Syria - Education

Education

The strong educational system in Syria is based on the old French system. Education is free in all public schools and obligatory up to the 9th grade. Schools are divided into three levels:

• 1st to 4th grade: Basic Education Level I (Arabic: التعليم الأساسي: حلقة أولى‎)
• 5th to 9th grade: Basic Education Level II (Arabic: التعليم الأساسي: حلقة ثانية‎)
• 10th to 12th grade: Secondary Education (Arabic: التعليم الثانوي‎), the equivalent of high school.

Final exams of the 9th grade are carried out nationally at the same time. The result of these exams determines if the student goes to the "general" secondary schools or the technical secondary schools. Technical secondary schools include industrial and agricultural schools for male students, crafts school for female students, and commercial and computer science schools for both.

At the beginning of the 11th grade, those who go to "general" secondary school have to choose to continue their study in either the "literary branch" or the "scientific branch".

The final exams of the 12th grade (the baccalaureate) are also carried out nationally and at the same time. The result of these exams determines the university, college and specialization that the student attends. To do that the student has to apply through a complicated system called Mufadalah.

Colleges charge modest fees ($10–20 a year) if the student achieves the sufficient marks in his Baccalaureate exams. If not, the student may opt to pay higher fees ($1500–4000) to enroll. There are some private schools and colleges but their fees are much higher.

Most universities in Syria follow the French model of higher education, the university stages and the academic degrees are:

• First stage: the Licence awarded after 4 years to 6 years depending on the field.
• Second stage: the DEA or DESS 1–2 years postgraduate degree equivalent to the Master's degree in the American/English systems.
• Third stage: the doctorat 3–5 years after the DEA or an equivalent degree.

Since 1967, all schools, colleges, and universities have been under close government supervision by the Ba'ath Party.

There are 6 state universities in Syria, and 15 private universities. The top two state universities are University of Damascus (180,000 students), and University of Aleppo. and the top private universities in Syria are: Syrian Private University, Arab International University, University of Kalamoon and International University for Science and Technology. There are also many Higher Institutes in Syria like the Higher Institute of Business Administration (HIBA) which offer undergraduate and graduate programs in Business. You can check this article for the full list of the Syrian Universities.