Enab Baladi – Ras al-Ain

University students in the border cities of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, near Turkey, face obstacles preventing them from continuing their education due to the lack of universities, limited geographical area, and difficulty accessing regions in northern Syria.

Higher education in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad is limited to the Free Aleppo University, which has seen little interest due to high tuition fees, in addition to the few educational options available in colleges and the absence of university branches, as the number of registered students in the two areas does not exceed 130.

Students have been unable to benefit from a decision by the Ministry of Higher Education in the interim Damascus government that allows university students to return to their studies after being away since the revolution began in 2011, including those who have been expelled.

Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain are located near the Turkish border and are surrounded by areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). There are no official routes between the two cities, and residents can only access interior Syria through dangerous smuggling routes or by entering Turkey and then back to Syria, which is not feasible.

Students cut off from university education

Kareem Saif al-Din from Ras al-Ain has been cut off from studying civil engineering in his fourth year in al-Hasakah since 2019, due to closed roads and clashes that occurred at that time between the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the SDF.

After the division of control areas between the two sides, Kareem tried to return to university in 2020, but was unable due to the difficult conditions and threats from hazardous roads that prevented him from reaching the university.

As a result, he was expelled due to his continuous absence and inability to return to continue his studies, expressing regret that the Ministry of Higher Education’s decision to allow students to return to classes did not include students from the two cities.

In 2014, Reema Masoud from Tal Abyad was forced to abandon her studies in the third year of the Faculty of Medicine at al-Furat University after she became wanted by the political security in Deir Ezzor, which prevented her from returning to her studies.

Later, the young woman tried to enroll in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad to continue her education but found no university branches there, as education was limited to health institutes like laboratory and nursing programs, which made it impossible for her to pursue her studies in her specialty.

Reema called for solutions for students in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, such as opening university branches or enabling students to continue their university studies from the new Syrian government.

Al-Khabour University stopped before opening

In April 2024, academics announced the establishment of the private al-Khabour University in Tal Abyad, northern Raqqa, but the project was halted afterward, and the university was never opened.

Moreover, no university branches were established in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, which led students to believe they had been deceived by unfulfilled promises, thus missing their opportunities to continue their university education.

A source from al-Khabour University’s staff (who requested anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media) told Enab Baladi that the university stopped working for several reasons, the most prominent being the ambiguity surrounding the future of the region.

He added that the administration ceased to implement the university project after the fall of the Syrian regime and Bashar al-Assad’s escape to Russia on December 8, 2024, and that academics began returning to different Syrian regions.

He noted that Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain are considered war zones, which led to the cancellation and non-opening of the university.

Some students considered the reasons contradictory to the current situation of the two cities, as no changes had occurred, and they remained the same geographical area, without any battles since the announcement to open the university, while negotiations were still underway between the interim Damascus government and the SDF, the most significant points of which are the surrender of weapons and the integration of the SDF into the new Syrian army as individuals.

Limited educational options

Enab Baladi obtained statistics showing that 2,100 students obtained the secondary school certificate in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad between 2019 and 2024, but only 130 of them continued their university studies, with their continued education limited to available institutes in the region.

The head of the student union in Ras al-Ain, Mohannad al-Abdullah, told Enab Baladi that the dropout of students from university education in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain is due to several factors, the most prominent being the absence of university branches and reliance only on institutes in the two areas.

Al-Abdullah explained that the student union in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad previously requested from the official Syrian opposition bodies, namely the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) and the Syrian National Coalition, to open university branches in Ras al-Ain, but they only opened institutes due to the small size of the areas.

He added that al-Khabour University also stopped opening branches in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain due to the prevailing political conditions in the region.

He pointed out that students cut off from university education in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad could not benefit from the decision by the Ministry of Higher Education in Damascus that allows them to return to universities and continue their studies due to the siege imposed by the SDF on their areas.

Al-Abdullah sees that the only solution for the region is the establishment of a university by the new Syrian government to meet the needs of students cut off from university education and those wishing to continue their university studies.

Since the Syrian National Army took control of the two cities in 2019, there has been an influx of interest in Turkish language courses, in hopes of enhancing job opportunities. Knowing the Turkish language has become a necessity to facilitate work in many institutions, whether in the private or public sector, which drove many to enroll in these courses.

Ras al-Ain primarily relies on the agricultural sector, which limits the diversity of job opportunities available to residents. Additionally, the weak infrastructure and small size of the area have reduced its ability to attract investments, contributing to an increase in unemployment rates among youth and a decline in the purchasing power of residents.