BA,ATH PARTY MAINTAINS NEAR STRANGLEHOLD ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 000097 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL OEXC OIIP KPAO SCUL SY XF SUBJECT: BA,ATH PARTY MAINTAINS NEAR STRANGLEHOLD ON EDUCATING SYRIAN YOUTH REF: O7 DAMASCUS 1131 DAMASCUS 00000097 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The struggle for the hearts and minds of Syrian youth is played out on the battlefield of education. In 2001, the Education Department of the Regional Leadership of the Ba,ath Party in conjunction with the Ministry of Higher Education made a series of decisions designed to reform the Syrian higher education system. Eight years on, with the exception of the establishment of private universities, no progress has been made to implement any of the suggested reforms. The Party and those loyal to it have become increasingly protective of their equities in Syria,s higher education system, seeking to restrict interaction with foreign entities and institutions. High ranking current and former Syrian education officials have expressed their frustration with stymied reform efforts and the absence of real international cooperation. The level and quality of Syrian education has suffered and a number of U.S. programs and initiatives have been damaged; the only mitigating factor is a large pool of exchange program participants outside academia. END SUMMARY. -------------- 2001 Decision to Reform -------------- ¶2. (U) In 2001, President Bashar Al-Asad chaired several meetings of Ba,ath Party Regional Leadership focused on higher education reform. The results of these meetings were never formalized in law or presidential decree. The decisions/recommendations reached were relayed by the Head of the Regional Leadership,s Higher Education Office to PD staff. (Note: This individual, Dr. Ghiyas Barakat, is currently serving as the Minister of Higher Education. End Note.) They included permitting the establishment of private universities, not requiring party membership for department chairs, allowing professors to design their own curricula, restructuring university admissions to reduce reliance on the baccalaureate exam, and establishing foreign language institutes to focus on English proficiency for both students and staff. -------------- Private University Boom -------------- ¶3. (U) Of the proposed 2001 reforms, only private universities have become a reality. A law passed subsequently allowed their establishment, and since then, 14 private universities opened, some teaching in English or other foreign languages. The Ministry of Higher Education has accredited the degrees of some private university graduates, but not all. For those accredited, however, the SARG has imposed stricter criteria than those applied to public university graduates. By law, most private universities are located 30-50 km outside city centers, making both distance and the high fees a burden on the average student. ¶4. (U) The largest and most prestigious of the private universities are Arab International University (formerly Arab European University) and Kalamoon University. Both universities teach in English, host foreign professors, and have an international outlook. The other private universities can be found in all parts of Syria )- five in Damascus, two in Aleppo, two in Homs, and one each in Idlib, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. Together, the private universities enroll around 23,000 students, a small percentage of the nearly half a million Syrian university students. -------------- Seeking Foreign Connections -------------- ¶5. (U) Both Syria,s public and private universities have signed numerous agreements with foreign educational institutions in Europe and the United States. These agreements provide for the exchange of professors and students, technical cooperation, and in a few European cases, dual-degree programs. American universities that have signed agreements with Syrian institutions over the past eight years include: Ohio State University, College of William and Mary, Middleberg College, Yale University, University of Oklahoma, University of Wyoming, and the University of Michigan. Most if not all these agreements have yielded few tangible results. Dr. Alan Merten, President of George Mason University, traveled to Syria in June 2008 to talk about educational cooperation with the Minister of Higher Education DAMASCUS 00000097 002.2 OF 003 and the President of Damascus University. He told Embassy staff the Syrian officials seemed more interested in a program of technical assistance than in student or professor exchanges. ¶6. (SBU) Other U.S. institutions actively pursuing partnerships with Syrian universities include Boston University and Brigham Young University. These outreach efforts by American universities should be viewed in the context of a push by American institutions to enlarge their international footprint and particularly to establish a presence in the Middle East. -------------- Reform, Universities Stymied -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Implementation of the agreements listed above, however, has been inconsistent. The President of Aleppo University told PD staff in January 2008 that despite the agreement with William and Mary and the presence of a handful of American students in Aleppo last year, the Ministry of Higher Education blocked the travel of Syrian students and research assistants to study at the American college. A professor at Aleppo University who was instrumental in forging the University,s relationships with American universities expressed his dismay over agreements being thwarted by the Ministry in Damascus for political reasons. ¶8. (SBU) In September 2007, Post obtained copies of letters sent by the Minister of Higher Education to the presidents and faculty of Syria,s public universities (see reftel). The letters prohibit interaction by professors and students with foreign entities, in particular the American Cultural Center. Adherence to the SARG order has curtailed DOS interaction with the entire academic sector )- in the form of visiting professors, speakers, information sessions on study and scholarship opportunities, etc. Syrian professors include among their ranks hundreds of alumni of DOS programs -- Fulbright, the Humphrey Fellowship, and the International Visitor Program -- but alumni have been reluctant to engage with Embassy Damascus because of the Minister,s edict and fear of losing their jobs. ¶9. (SBU) In summer 2006, the SARG blocked six Syrian professors from traveling to take up Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowships in the United States. In May 2008, the Ministry of Higher Education for the first time refused to allow American Fulbright students in Damascus to enroll as auditors at Damascus University. The refusal was consistent with efforts made by the SARG to reduce the number of foreign student auditors at the University overall; the reasons voiced to PD staff were the poor attendance record among foreign students and the security services, suspicion of their activities in Syria. ¶10. (SBU) The private universities are not immune from the SARG,s effort to curtail cooperative relationships with the American Cultural Center. Despite previous verbal agreements to host American Corners and English Language Fellows, Arab International University and Kalamoon University pulled out, citing the need for Ministry permission. The President of Arab International University made an unsuccessful attempt to work around the system and keep its English Language Fellow for the 2007-2008 academic year. Kalamoon, at SARG's behest, rescinded its offer to host two American Fulbright professors for the 2006-2007 academic year. -------------- Who,s to Blame? -------------- ¶11. (SBU) In a January 2008 meeting between Deputy Minister for Higher Education Dr. Maher Kabakibi, then Charge de,Affaires Michael Corbin, and PAO concerning the U.S. Fulbright student program, Dr. Kabakibi asserted that the &Higher Education Council8 (of the Regional Leadership of the Ba,ath Party) makes all decisions regarding foreign student registration at Syrian universities. In a subsequent meeting between PD staff and the head of the Higher Education Office of the Ba,ath Party Regional Leadership, the party official expressed a desire for engagement with Americans, while articulating anger toward the USG and its foreign policy. He made clear the Ministry of Higher Education,s refusal to maintain a dialogue on education with American officials in Damascus would continue at least through the U.S. elections in November 2008. ¶12. (SBU) This official, however, also expressed the Party,s displeasure with the current Minister of Higher DAMASCUS 00000097 003.2 OF 003 Education for failing in his main mandate: the improvement of English language teaching in Syrian universities. (Note: The Minister, Dr. Ghiyas Barakat, has a PhD in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Texas. Despite persistent rumors of the Minister,s imminent departure in a cabinet shuffle, he remains in office. End note.) ¶13. (C) PAO and CAO met with the former Minister of Higher Education and former President of Damascus University Dr. Hani Mortada (protect) in June 2008. Dr. Mortada decried the lack of progress in reform efforts started under his leadership and pointed a finger at the current Minister, noting the Minister,s ties to the Ba,ath Party and the Party,s effort to maintain control. Other PD contacts, including students and university faculty, alternate between denigrating the Minister as a party hack with a grudge against the United States and painting him as a committed educator doing the bidding of his party masters. These contrasting views reflect the debate within an education system at war with itself over its future. ¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: Embassy Damascus maintains a modest PD foothold in Syrian higher education through student exchanges, but otherwise the closed door of Syrian universities has led Post to expand the recruitment base for other exchange programs, drawing widely from the business, journalism, scientific, and cultural sectors in lieu of academia. The dichotomy between isolation and openness is reflected in many other facets of Syrian politics and society, but most starkly evident in the education field. END COMMENT. CONNELLY