Multilingual education initiative being implemented for new school year in North and East Syria

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — The Education Authority of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Region of North and East Syria (DAARNES) announced the implementation of the new multilingual education initiative for the upcoming school year. Students will now have the option to study in their mother tongues, including Syriac, Arabic, Kurdish, Armenian, and Turkish.

Samira Haj Ali, Co-Chair of the DAARNES Education Authority, explained that the initiative aims to strengthen society from both moral and political perspectives. She added that students will be taught in their mother tongue until the third grade, after which they will begin learning the languages of other communities. The new curriculum has been designed to eliminate racism, nationalism, and assimilation, which were imposed by the Baath regime in the past.

Haj Ali also criticized the education policies in areas controlled by Turkish forces, describing them as racist and focused on raising a nationalist generation by banning local languages like Kurdish, Syriac, and Arabic.

Approximately 900,000 children are expected to start the school year across 4,100 schools in North and East Syria, taught by 41,000 educators.