section_path: Policies/Education
section_name: Education
paragraph_text: Education
  
  On 1 January 2025, the Minister for Education announced changes to the national curriculum via their official Facebook page, including the removal of all references to the Assad era from all subjects, and introducing censorship of other subjects under religious lines. Under the new curriculum, evolution and the big bang theory would also be removed from science classes.
  
  Mentions of the pre-Islamic inhabitants of Syria, such as the Arameans and Canaanites, as well as the history of the ancient gods they worshipped (via the Canaanite religion and the ancient Mesopotamian religion) have also been removed. Texts relating to the role of Syrian women in the country's history and gender equality have been deleted, while the role of the historic Palmyrene Queen Zenobia has been downplayed, having been declared a "fictional character".
  
  The new curriculum includes changes to the way that Islam is presented, as according to the new education minister, Nazir al-Qadri, the previous revision presented Quranic verses in a 'wrong' way. Among other changes, the phrase "Defending the nation" is to be replaced with "Defending Allah ". "Path to Goodness" has been changed to "Islamic Path", while "those who have are damned and have gone astray" has been changed to " Jews and Christians ", a change described by CNN as part of an ultra-conservative interpretation of a Quranic verse.
  
  The changes were denied by education minister al-Qadri, who had announced that the only instructions that were given were for changes that included the removal of content "glorifying the defunct Assad regime" and changing the Ba'athist-era flag with the 'revolutionary' flag. The changes were met with mixed reactions, as they indicated a shift to a more conservative Islamist -style education system.