Syrian Histories
“The military character of the ruling regime dominated the educational institutions,” says Maryam. “The students were forced to memorise quotations by president Hafez al-Assad as part of their school curricula, and the Baath Party had a huge influence and widespread control, helping decide which teachers were hired, determining administrative guidelines, supervising youth military camps and encouraging students to join the Party by reinforcing the idea that they wouldn’t be able to find a job in the future unless they joined its ranks. In addition, security forces continually interfered and paid visits to schools, either on official business or on their own personal initiatives, coming to make sure there were photos of the president in the classrooms, forcing teachers and students to participate in demonstrations, ensuring that the salute to the flag was carried out and forbidding prayers or the appearance of any religious celebrations.”
“The students were forced to memorise quotations by president Hafez al-Assad as part of their school curricula, and the Baath Party had a huge influence and widespread control” As the social makeup of the outskirts changed in the 1980s, with more and more people from the city moving to the suburbs, there was also the advent of some sects, such as the Alawites, who prioritised the education of their children. Subsequently, Maryam noticed an improvement in the state of education. A new generation of educators and university graduates emerged, while some of the girls in the area entered the workforce and the majority of teachers became female. Maryam remembers the modern educational curricula of the first decade of the 21st century as strong and rich in substance. Overcrowding in classrooms and teacher 10
