Daraa – Mahjoub al-Hashish

Students at the Daraa branch of Damascus University are facing a series of difficulties that have impacted their university lives and academic performance.

The most significant challenges, according to students who spoke to Enab Baladi, include overcrowding in classrooms, inadequate public services such as a lack of clean sanitary facilities, scarcity of drinking water, accumulation of waste in the classrooms and on campus, and the absence of modern technological tools, computer labs, or a central library for references.

A thousand students in each lecture

In Daraa, there are six colleges located in government buildings that do not belong to the university. The Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Law are in the building of the Technical Institute for Financial and Banking Sciences, while the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine are in the Sharia School. The Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Psychological Counseling, and the Diploma in Educational Rehabilitation are in a building belonging to the Daraa Education Directorate, and the Faculty of Arts is located in the Panorama building.

The head of the Daraa branch of Damascus University, Dr. Shawqi al-Rashed, stated to Enab Baladi that over 14,000 students are distributed across buildings not owned by the university. This situation has resulted in attendance numbers exceeding a thousand students in each lecture.

Al-Rashed suggested utilizing former buildings owned by the previous government, such as the Baath party building, the political security building, and the Officers’ Club as new locations for the Daraa branch of Damascus University.

The issue of student overcrowding and limited space is attributed to the destruction of the Muzayrib colleges, which are now out of service. The head of the engineering office at the Daraa branch of Damascus University, Ali al-Masalmah, reported that the University of Muzayrib has been reduced to ruins, and it is impossible to repair it after it was subjected to theft, leaving only the foundations.

Al-Masalmah informed Enab Baladi that the Muzayrib colleges span an area of 500 dunams, designed for the faculties of humanities and social sciences, and contain 20 lecture halls that each accommodate 200 students, along with designated offices for administration.

He mentioned that the original plan was to relocate all colleges to the Muzayrib area after assigning a building to each faculty, which led to pressure on the Daraa facilities after the university was rendered inactive in 2013.

The remains of the Muzayrib faculties, which were intended to be a university encompassing all disciplines – May 22, 2025 (Enab Baladi/Mahjoub al-Hashish)

Lack of educational tools

University student Malak al-Maqdad tries to arrive early from the city of Busra al-Sham to the Faculty of Education at the Daraa branch of Damascus University to secure a spot in the front rows, enabling her to hear the lecturers.

Al-Maqdad, a psychological counseling student, noted that the auditorium contains more than a thousand students, making it difficult for the lecturer’s voice to reach beyond the first four rows.

She added that some lecturers alternate between sections of students during the lecture time, meaning that a single lecture is delivered to two groups.

Basil, a student at the Faculty of Law, complained about the overflowing restrooms in the college and the lack of cleanliness in public facilities, while some male and female students are forced to go to a nearby cafeteria for access to proper restrooms.

Student Ali al-Rini stated that the facilities are inadequate and need taps and sinks. He added that students can spend over eight hours at the college, making access to these facilities a major concern from the morning.

Among the problems mentioned by students are poor visibility inside the classrooms, especially in winter, and some students complained about the age and clarity of presentations using the projectors, indicating that the classroom doors need maintenance.

Al-Rini also noted that the Faculty of Education has a generator powered by diesel, but the university administration does not operate it during class hours. He called for fixing the lights in the classrooms and either connecting to the government electricity grid with an exemption from rationing or providing fuel for the generator during study hours.

Students in the colleges complained about the absence of laboratories, computer halls, and reference libraries.

Working within limitations

Ali al-Masalmah, head of the engineering office at the Daraa branch of Damascus University, mentioned to Enab Baladi that due to the theft of a loudspeaker from the Faculty of Education at the beginning of the first semester, all loudspeakers were removed from the colleges as a precaution against theft due to a lack of security at the university at that time.

He added that the administration is in the process of reinstalling these loudspeakers in the coming days after securing new security measures for the colleges.

Al-Masalmah highlighted current maintenance work on restrooms, with the university management repeatedly attempting to clear the sewage due to the high student pressure and lack of water leading to blockages. He called for providing the university with water and electricity lines exempt from rationing.

Regarding the insufficient water supply for students, he noted that the Faculty of Education has more than ten tanks with a capacity of 12 meters each, which are not sufficient for the students. The college is located in the al-Kashef neighborhood, under water rationing (two days a week), necessitating that the tanks be replenished by water trucks from the water department.

He mentioned that the monthly maintenance expenses allocated to buildings and public facilities do not cover these faults. Furthermore, he stated that the city council removes waste from the containers twice a week, while waste burning is done haphazardly and not related to the university.

Al-Masalmah pointed out that there used to be a computer lab, but due to the high demand on classrooms and offices, it was canceled and replaced with some computers designated for use when necessary.

He continued that the second Faculty of Economics in Daraa does not have a dedicated space; it is located within the Technical Institute for Financial and Banking Sciences, a five-story building housing the Faculties of Economics and Law, the technical institute, the engineering institute, and all administrative offices for the Faculty of Arts.

Additionally, there is no designated computer lab or reference library; therefore, the management has placed all references for the Faculty of Economics in an office within the Technical Institute, which is accessible to all students wishing to obtain references.