Syria’s new rebel government orders changes to school curricula, worrying some Syrians

References to ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his father, who ruled Syria before him, were removed, as were images of pre-Islamic gods. The definition of martyr has changed, and it now means someone who died for the sake of God, and not for the sake of the country. A Roman-era queen has been omitted from some textbooks.

Just weeks after the Rebel Alliance He overthrew the Assad regimeThe interim government they formed in Damascus moved quickly to order a set of changes to the country’s school curricula. The amendments cover topics ranging from English and history to science and Islamic studies.

The move was criticized by teachers and other Syrians who objected not only to the nature of some of the changes but also to the fact that they were decided so quickly, without transparency and guidance from teachers and the general public.

Critics say the changes, and the unilateral way they were ordered, are troubling signs of how the new Syrian government plans to govern a diverse country.

Some of the changes, detailed in nine pages posted by the Education Ministry on social media last week, have been widely welcomed, such as removing glorification of the Assad regime from school textbooks.

But some Syrians question why other changes are being prioritized, given the more pressing issues, such as insecurity, sectarian tensions and economic crisis, that continue to face the country.

“The amendments should be limited to things related to the previous regime only,” Rose Maya, 45, a high school French teacher, said during a small protest against the changes outside the Ministry of Education on Sunday. “But there’s no need for all the other changes.”

Ms. Maya was joined by about two dozen other people – including teachers, students, doctors and artists – carrying placards expressing various objections to the changes. Next to her was another teacher, Muayyad Mufleh, holding a sign that read: “Power belongs to the people, not to the people.”

Mr. Mufleh said that until recently he had been teaching about nationalism, a subject that was widely seen as serving the Assad regime’s agenda. Now it has been completely removed from the school curriculum.

“As an interim minister he should not make changes,” Ms Maya said, referring to Education Minister Nazir Mohammad Qadri. She said there was a need for transparency regarding the committees the ministry said it had formed to review textbooks and suggest changes. “There have to be teachers involved,” she said.

The ministry defended the changes and rejected suggestions that the amendments were Islamist, or a reference to Salafism, a conservative branch of Sunni Islam to which many of the country’s new leaders belong.

“The amendments were necessary after the liberation of Syria,” Al-Qadri said in an interview on Sunday. “These amendments were not changes to the school curriculum, but rather amendments to some slogans and symbols that glorified the previous regime.”

Mr. Al-Qadri was part of the education ministry in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, which is run by the Islamist rebel group that now heads the interim government, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

He added that specialized committees including members of the government led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib Governorate and members of the Ministry of Education during the Assad era reviewed the textbooks and proposed changes.

Moatasem Sioufi, executive director of The Day After, a non-profit group, said the interim government is trying to impose its vision not only on Syria’s political system but also on public life. The Day After was founded in 2012 by members of the Syrian opposition to plan a transition in Syria after the final fall of the Assad regime.

He added: “The changes are a clear reflection of a very narrow reading of Islam, and remind us once again of the background of the group that is in charge of Syria today.” “There is no comprehensive view.”

Al-Syoufi said that the speed with which changes were made to the curriculum indicates that they were prepared before the interim government took power.

Throughout Syria, even as a people celebrate There is an overthrow of a brutal and authoritarian regime Some fear About the country’s future under a government headed by Islamist rebels.

The new de facto leader of Syria Ahmed Al-SharaaHe recently said that it could take two to three years to draft a new constitution, and up to four years to hold elections, alarming some Syrians who expressed fears of replacing one authoritarian leader with another.

Many people at the protest questioned why removing a Roman-era queen was a priority for the new Syrian leadership, which was already suddenly overwhelmed with running the entire country. Rebuilding the state.

On page 19 of the third-grade Islamic Studies textbook, the reference to Zenobia, queen of the Roman colony of Palmyra, in present-day central Syria, has been removed. Many have read a mysterious note in the list of changes made by the Ministry as evidence that it considers her a fictional character.

Mr. Al-Qadri said that it had not been removed from history textbooks. He said that she was deleted from the book of Islamic studies because she lived and ruled in the pre-Islamic period.

He said: “We do not deny that Zenobia was present in history.” But he said: “We object to its inclusion in this book.”

However, the removal of the female leader from the textbook has alarmed some Syrians, who see it as an attack on Syria’s storied history.

“If we teach this generation that she is a fictional character, we will lose our connection to the past,” Ms. Maya said. “This means that we have no past. He who does not have a past has no future.”

Some Syrians say that such changes must wait for the constitution to be written and elections to be held. They said they should also be part of a broader dialogue between different parts of Syrian society, which consists of different religions, sects and ethnicities.

Malak Muhammad Suleiman, a dentist, said: “Their focus at this stage should be on imposing security and explaining how they came to power and what their plans are.”

Another change in the curriculum that has worried Syrians concerns the translation of a verse from the Qur’an. The last verse of the first surah of the Muslim holy book refers to “the lost.”

The phrase was defined in the previous first-grade Islamic studies textbook as “those who have deviated from the straight path.” Under the changes introduced by the new government, the phrase is now known as “Christians and Jews.”

Manuela Alhakim, a 60-year-old abstract painter and practicing Muslim who wears the hijab, raised a sign at the protest objecting to this new interpretation.

“We don’t want things that will divide us,” she said. “Syria has always had all religions and all beliefs.”

Nearby, Ziad Al-Khoury, a 61-year-old retired journalist, raised a single sign, one of which read: “I am a Christian and I am not lost.”

Mr. Al-Khoury said he was shocked when he first heard about the change.

“It seemed like a message from the new government that we are not part of this country,” he said.