Know all About Syrian Education

Did you know that the clause of free and basic education is implemented in Syria that includes the primary and preparatory levels? The primary level includes 6 years and the preparatory level includes 3 years. Syrian Education provides its own distinctive curriculum and arena of education. Yet, we remain unaware of most of it. Hidden behind the civil war, there’s a whole world of education that Syria keeps on trying to instill in its younger population. Today, we will uncover all about Syrian Education, in this blog. Let’s first look at the overview of Syrian Education, and understand the basics of Syrian Education.

Overview of Syrian Education

Here’s a glimpse into the education system of Syria.

Country	Syria
Language	Arabic
Length of School Education	12 years
Basic Fee	Free
Levels and Length of Higher Education	Bachelors Degree (4 to 6 years) Diploma of Higher Studies (2 years) Masters Degree (2 years) Doctoral Degree (3 years)
Basic Starting Fee for Higher Education	$10–20 a year (INR 800 to 2000)

Syrian Education: School 

At the school level, Syrian education is 12 years long, excluding kindergarten classes. The following are the levels of school education, in ascending order. 

Level of School Education	Classes	Years
Kindergarten	Pre-Primary Classes	3 years
Primary Education	Grade 1 to Grade 6	6 years
Preparatory Education	Grade 7 to Grade 9	3 years
Secondary Education	Grade 10 to Grade 12	3 years

Expanding on Secondary Education in Syria

Now, it is important to note that Secondary education at the school level in Syria, is further divided into three categories, divisions, or streams. Continue reading to know more about them.

1. General Secondary Education

In this stream, the students take general subjects in Grade 10 and then follow it up with literary or scientific subjects from Grade 11. On completion of General Secondary Education, students receive a General Secondary Education certificate that gives them access to university education. 

2. Technical Secondary Education

Comprising of further branches: agricultural, technical industrial, commercial, and technical education for girls; on completion of the respective branch with more than 70 per cent in their final examination, students get promoted to university education.

3. Vocational Secondary Education

Comprising industrial and vocational education for girls; a certificate of Vocational Secondary Education Certificate is provided to students once they complete this level; though vocational secondary education does not permit the students to access university education. 

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Basic Schooling Grading Scale

Moving on, this is what a typical schooling grading scale looks like:

Percentage of Marks	Grading Terms
80 to 100%	Excellent
65 to 79%	Very Good
50 to 64%	Good
40 to 49%	Acceptable
0 to 39%	Failure

This was all about Syrian Education at the school level, let’s see what the university level, that is higher education, looks like.

Syrian Education: Higher Education: University 

Higher education in Syria includes an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree – wherein undergraduate degrees are in two forms and graduate degrees are in three forms. Let’s expand the same in the categorisation below. 

Undergraduate Degree 

Two types of undergraduate degrees are there – a Bachelor’s degree and an Intermediate Certificate. 

Bachelor’s Degree	4 to 6 years
Intermediate Certificate	2 years

Bachelor’s Degree 

A bachelor’s degree is provided in various fields by private or public institutions. For example, fields like Engineering, architecture, pharmacy, dentistry, and veterinary medicine require 5 years to be completed. In the field of General Medicine, 6 years are needed to complete the qualification. On graduation, you receive a Licence and a Graduation Certificate. 

Entry

Requirement of a General Secondary Education Certificate

Intermediate Certificate

An Intermediate Certificate is provided on completion of Intermediate programs that are further provided by Intermediate Institutes. 

Here, you receive a Certificate and a professional qualification. 

Entry

Requirement of a Technical Secondary Education Certificate

Graduate Degree 

When it comes to the graduate level, universities offer three graduate programs, known as a diploma of higher studies, a master’s degree, and then a doctoral degree. 

Diploma of Higher Studies	2 years
Master’s Degree: AcademicProfessional	2 years1 year for holders of Diploma of Higher Studies
Doctoral	3 years

Diploma 

If you have a bachelor’s degree in a related field, you can move on to do a Diploma in Higher Studies. This diploma gives a higher standing to master’s degrees. There’s also a type of one-year Diploma of Qualification and Specialization program (professional nature) but they do not give advancement to a professional master’s degree. 

Master’s Degree 

There are two types of Master’s degrees: Academic and Professional. Academic Master’s Degree is usually 2 years long and a professional master’s degree gets cut short to one year if you have a diploma of higher studies, if not there will be 2 years of course study. It is important to note that a professional degree at the master’s level does not grant access to a Doctorate degree. 

Doctoral Degree 

Here, to become eligible, you need an academic master’s degree for admission. The program lasts 3 years with 2 years of dissertation preparation.

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Basic Post-secondary Grading Scale 

We share some examples of the Basic Post-Secondary Grading Scale.

1. Example 1:

Percentage of Marks	Grading Terms
95 to 100%	Honours
85 to 94%	Excellent
75 to 84%	Very Good
65 to 74%	Good
60 to 64%	Acceptable
0 to 59%	Failure

2. Example 2:

Percentage of Marks	Grading Terms
90 to 100%	Honours
80 to 89%	Excellent
70 to 79%	Very Good
60 to 69%	Good
50 to 59%	Acceptable
0 to 49%	Failure

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Types of Institutions 

There are four types of institutions. The following is the list. 

• Public universities
• Private Universities
• Higher institutes
• Technical institutes

Entry Requirements: Eligibility Criteria 

Let’s look at various types and levels of degrees and their basic eligibility criteria of the same. 

Level of Study Credentials	Entrance Requirements	Length of Study
General Secondary Education Certificate	Completion of Grade 9: Preparatory Education	3 years
Technical Secondary Education Certificate	Completion of Grade 9: Preparatory Education	3 years
Vocational Secondary Education Certificate	Completion of Grade 9: Preparatory Education	2 or 3 years
Nursing Certificate	Completion of Grade 9: Preparatory Education	3 years
Intermediate Certificate	General Secondary Education Certificate Technical Secondary Education Certificate	2 years
Primary Teaching Certificate	General Secondary Education Certificate Technical Secondary Education Certificate	2 years
Bachelor’s degree	General Secondary Education Certificate Intermediate Certificate	4 years
Degree in Medicine	General Secondary Education Certificate	6 years
Degree in Dentistry, or in Veterinary, or in Law	General Secondary Education Certificate	5 years
Diploma of Higher Studies	Bachelor’s degree	1 year
Master’s Degree	Bachelor’s degree ( to academic)Diploma [of Higher Studies]	2 years [academic] 1 year after Diploma [of Higher Studies]
Doctoral Degree	Master’s Degree	3 years minimum

This is to highlight that public higher institutions use Arabic as the medium of instruction. But for private universities that offer programs in English, the following gets added to the eligibility criteria: 

• An English Language Proficiency Test Result: TOEFL, IELTS, or Oxford Placement Test.

Admission Process

The following steps summarise the application process to Syrian universities for international students:

1. First, find the right program of your preference.
2. Then, send in applications to universities. 
3. Receive the conditional offer or unconditional offer letter from the universities. 
4. Apply for Visa and receive the same. 
5. Continue to look for accommodation in the country. 
6. Book flight tickets. 
7. Get connected with your chosen university.
8. Fly to Syria!
9. Meet your batchmates, and teachers, and spend your academic year in Syria.

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Top Universities in Syria

Next, we share some of the top Syrian universities. 

Name of University.	QS Ranking 2023
Damascus University	1401+
Al-Baath University	–
Tishreen University	–
Al-Hawash Private University	–
Arab International University	–
International University of Science and Technology	–
Syrian Private University	–
University of Kalamoon	–
Al-Sham Private University	–
University of Aleppo	–

FAQs 

This was all about Syrian Education. Get in touch with the professionals at Leverage Edu to discover more about the complete process of studying abroad.