Enab Baladi – Bisan Khalaf
“The curriculum is dense and requires experienced teachers, but we only receive substitute teachers from our generation who do not have sufficient experience,” said high school sophomore Walaa Makarem, whom Enab Baladi met at a secondary school in the Sahnaya area.
Makarem intends to leave school and transfer to an educational institute to study the third year of secondary education due to the “lack of experience in the teaching staff that relies on substitute teachers.”
Syrian schools are facing a severe shortage of educational staff due to low teacher salaries and waves of migration caused by the security conditions imposed by the previous Syrian regime, which led many to resign.
The most prominent educational problems in public schools include a lack of expertise and staff, overcrowded classrooms, and a lack of teaching aids.
Substitutes without official approval
Lujain Rifai, a second-year archaeology student and a former substitute teacher for general sciences and physics at a secondary school in Jdeidet Artouz area, told Enab Baladi that substitutes do not come to schools based on the selection of the Education Directorates, but rather by the choice of the school administration.
In turn, the administration of each school submits the names of the substitutes to the Education Directorates to disburse their dues, which the Ministry of Education has set at 1,500 Syrian pounds per hour, according to Rifai.
For her part, Reem Qaderiya, a first-year agricultural engineering student and a former substitute English teacher at a preparatory school in the Sahnaya area, told Enab Baladi that a substitute teacher at the preparatory school offered her a job there, and she was accepted by the school administration without referring to the Education Directorate before her appointment.
Qaderiya added that she received her salary after a full school year, after the school administration submitted her attendance record to the Education Directorate.
Enab Baladi attempted to contact the administration of Jdeidet Artouz secondary school and the administration of the Sahnaya preparatory school but received no response by the time this report was written.
It also tried to contact the former education director of Damascus, Assef Zaytoun, to inquire about how substitutes are appointed directly from the school administration without referring to the Education Directorate, but he refused to comment.
Ghalib Murabiya Secondary School in Jdeidet Artouz – February 26, 2025 (Enab Baladi – Bisan Khalaf)
Appointments based on favoritism
Most school principals came to their positions based on party approvals, and the selection of substitutes in schools was based on favoritism, according to Mohammad Sayed Qaddour, the Director of Education at the Ministry of Education.
Qaddour added to Enab Baladi that it is necessary to reassign experienced principals to train the substitutes chosen by the Education Directorates according to their specialties and to follow them up academically.
The salary of an experienced teacher in Syria is estimated at 400,000 Syrian pounds (equivalent to 40 dollars), while an inexperienced teacher earns 300,000 Syrian pounds (equivalent to 30 dollars).
Overcrowded schools
“The substitute English teacher left the school on the first day when he was surprised to find 66 students in one class,” said middle school student Mahmoud Masoud.
Schools in Syria suffer from overcrowded classrooms, with the number of students in one class exceeding 60 students.
Mohammad Sayed Qaddour, the Director of Education at the Ministry of Education, explained that one of the reasons for the high number of students is the shortcomings in some schools compared to successful ones.
Therefore, it is essential to activate all schools and ensure their success while also increasing the number of public schools, according to Qaddour.
Al-Mutanabbi Secondary School in Ashrafiat Sahnaya – February 26 (Enab Baladi – Bisan Khalaf)
Private education “for the children of the elite”
“I work as a driver for the Zakinn app after my main job to secure the tuition for a private school, which costs two million pounds for my son.”
With this statement, Ghazi Falah, an employee in the electricity sector, conveyed the struggles of parents regarding the high fees of private schools, noting that public schools are overcrowded and poorly managed, which forced him to transfer his son from a public school to a private one.
The significant overcrowding in schools has led some parents to enroll their children in private schools, despite the high tuition fees reaching about 10 million Syrian pounds (approximately 1,000 dollars) per year.
“Private schools are for the children of the elite; the rights of the poor to receive a quality education are denied, and one day, education for the poor will become a luxury,” Falah told Enab Baladi.
Regarding the rising costs of private schools in Syria, Mohammad Sayed Qaddour, the Director of Education at the Ministry of Education, clarified that the ministry will reconsider the decree governing private schools and will work to alleviate the harshness of the decree as it does not fit the reality.
The legislative decree No. “55” governing private schools states that every private educational institution must partner with the state for no less than 51% of the capital.
UN reports on education in Syria
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated on January 24, 2020, that more than two million children have been deprived of education in Syria over years of war.
The education system in Syria suffers from pressure and a lack of funding; it is fragmented and unable to provide safe, equitable, and sustainable services for millions of children. According to a joint statement by the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syrian crisis, Muhannad Hadi, and the Regional Director of UNICEF for the Middle East and North Africa, Ted Chaiban, on January 24, 2021, children able to enroll in school are learning in overcrowded classrooms and in buildings lacking essential water and sanitation facilities, electricity, heating, or ventilation.