From War to Reconstruction: Education in Syria, Changing Landscapes and Emerging Issues

• In Event: Education in Complex Contexts: Refugee, Indigenous, and Marginalized Youth Experiences

Proposal

This paper explores the evolving landscape of education in Syria over the past decade, situating schools and learning at the heart of the country’s journey toward recovery, justice, and peace after the fall of the Assad regime. As the country calls on its citizens to participate in reconstruction, education emerges as both a practical necessity and a symbolic foundation for restoring dignity, strengthening families, and rebuilding communities.
The paper begins with a historical overview of Syria’s educational system, identifying challenges that have merged since the last decade. These include stalled curriculum reforms, disrupted schooling for millions of children, and the mass displacement of families both within Syria and abroad. Alongside these pressures, refugee education has posed ongoing difficulties, reshaping how Syrian children and families experience learning across multiple contexts. Against this backdrop, the paper moves to the current moment, examining how the educational sector is being reshaped as peace takes root.
The analysis builds on three interconnected studies of educational reform in Syria. The first, begun more than a decade ago, involved document analysis of curriculum materials alongside interviews with teachers and educators. The second followed the experiences of Syrian students during the war years, both within the country and in the diaspora, documenting the struggles of displacement, interrupted schooling, and the uncertain future of refugee education. The third, ongoing study turns toward the present day, employing autoethnographic methods to capture observations from recent visits to Syria. Drawing on site visits to schools and NGOs, workshops with educators, and conversations with stakeholders, this study examines emerging issues and practices that illustrate the challenges and possibilities of education in rebuilding Syria.
The theoretical framework guiding this inquiry is recognitive justice, drawing on Nancy Fraser’s early work (1995) and the elaborations of Gale and Densmore (2000). This framework provides a distinctive lens for rethinking fairness and justice by emphasizing recognition, the nurturing of self-identity, self-development, and self-determination. Viewed through this perspective, education is situated not simply within classrooms but within the broader social fabric, deeply tied to reconciliation, justice, and national healing. Schools and educational practices are seen as spaces where trust can be rebuilt, dignity affirmed, and communities invited to collectively imagine new futures. In this sense, education in Syria has the potential to function as a vehicle for both personal growth and societal transformation, laying the foundation for lasting peace.
Preliminary findings from recent fieldwork highlight the vital role of volunteers, grassroots organizations, and local educators who are working tirelessly to keep education alive. Their efforts include reconstructing damaged schools, reducing dropout rates, offering professional development to fill in vacancies in teaching, and designing programs for diverse learners, especially multilingual Syrians. New challenges also emerge as displaced families begin to return, bringing with them children who have studied abroad in different systems and languages. For these students, reintegration into the Syrian system requires tailored support to address learning gaps, strengthen Arabic proficiency, and adapt to a curriculum that is familiar to their parents but unfamiliar to younger students.
The paper argues that re-examining teaching, learning, and assessment in this context is critical. Special consideration must be given to the needs of returnee students, to equity for multilingual learners, and to bridging the cultural and educational divides that displacement has created. Insights from studies examining Syrian students educated abroad—such as those who adapted to Canadian schools—can provide valuable lessons (Wattar & Le Pichon, 2022; Le Pichon, Naji, Wattar, & Lee, 2023). These experiences show how practices that once supported Syrians abroad can now help children in Syria reconnect with their heritage language, navigate reorientation, and find belonging in a reconstituted national system.
Ultimately, this paper calls for education to be placed at the center of Syria’s peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts. By fostering inclusive and equitable practices, supporting diverse learners, and drawing on both local and international lessons, education can contribute not only to rebuilding physical infrastructure but also to restoring justice and cultivating peace. Schools, teachers, and communities become key actors in this process, reminding us that rebuilding Syria is not only about bricks and mortar but also about hearts, minds, and the collective reimagining of a just and peaceful future.

Author

• Dania Wattar, OISE, University of Toronto