Christina al-Shammas | Besan Khalaf
“Our goals are Unity, Freedom, and Socialism,” a phrase frequently echoed by students in Syria, accompanied by terms like “One Arab Nation” and “The Eternal Message of Baath,” which accompanied their curricula throughout their educational years, a fact even the children of the 1970s and 1980s have not forgotten.
In 1970, Hafez al-Assad led a military coup known as the “Corrective Movement,” and following the coup, a constitution was issued in 1973, consisting of 156 articles, the most notable of which was Article 8, which states that the “Arab Socialist Baath Party” is the “leading party in society and the state.”
On March 24, 1974, Decision No. 493 was issued directly from the head of authority at the time, establishing what was known as the “Organization of the Baath Vanguard” and integrating it into schools from primary to preparatory levels.
Secondary education had its own Baathist characteristics when students transitioned from the Baath Vanguard to the Revolutionary Youth.
The school as a military battalion
“At seven in the morning, we stand in the morning assembly reciting the slogan (Be Always Ready to Build and Defend the United Socialist Arab Nation), without understanding what the united nation is.”
This is how 40-something-year-old Jihan Mohareb recounts her story to Enab Baladi, reflecting on schools in Syria during Hafez al-Assad’s regime.
She stated, “We wore the vanguard uniform in primary school, a military-colored outfit and a cap bearing the emblem of the Baath Vanguard Organization.
In preparatory and secondary stages, the school transformed into a military battalion, as students wore military uniforms and placed red epaulettes on their shoulders to indicate their grade level. Those who did not comply with the dress code faced beatings with sticks from the military trainer.
This imposition of a military battalion lifestyle didn’t stop there; the Baath Chapter in every school began forcibly removing the hijabs from female students in 1980 when Rifaat al-Assad was the commander of the Defense Brigades.
According to Mohareb, some female students resorted to wearing the “sidara” to cover their heads, fearing that they would be deprived of taking the exam.
The Revolutionary Youth Union… Hitler Youth
“The Revolutionary Youth Union is the other face of the Hitler Youth Organization,” this is what Jihan Mohareb discovered when she grew up, emigrated abroad, and read history.
Mohareb believes that the Revolutionary Youth Union is no different from the Hitler Youth organization, as what the Nazi party did in Germany to propagate Nazi ideology among youth was mirrored by Hafez al-Assad’s regime, filling young minds with the principles of his ruling party.
The Hitler Youth movement was a Nazi youth organization, divided into two distinct sections, one for boys called “Hitler Youth” and another for girls called the “League of German Girls.”
The Vanguard camps in Syrian schools were dedicated to sports and recreational activities, but military training and Revolutionary Youth camps were more akin to military enlistment training; “we trained on using weapons,” Mohareb stated.
She added, “The training in weapon usage was conducted by military trainers and officers in the Syrian army, and parental visits were forbidden.” In her one trip to the military training camp, she was abused by a military trainer because she couldn’t load the weapon.
History reformatted before Baath
“Previous presidents are described by history books as ‘unpatriotic’; I never heard of Amin al-Hafiz in history books,” said journalist Alaa Arbaji.
He added, “The national education book was a tool for systematic manipulation of students’ minds, making a student at 18 completely convinced of all illogical fallacies and mixed lies with facts.”
Samer, 27, believes that the National Education subject indoctrinated children’s minds and muddled the concept of citizenship, reducing it to fulfilling duties and unclear rights, while this subject’s lessons throughout his 12 years of schooling were filled with conspiracy theories.
The son’s succession to power… Education glorifies
After the death of Hafez al-Assad on June 10, 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad inherited power with the consensus of the Baath Party. The constitution was amended for him in a parliamentary session that lasted less than 15 minutes, considered the fastest amendment in the world.
Article 83 of the constitution was modified which stated that the president must be 40 years old, and in a vote that lasted just minutes, the article was changed to allow a president to be 34 years old, which was Bashar’s age at that time, enabling him to assume the presidency of Syria.
At that time, Syria, along with its institutions, especially educational ones, transformed to glorify the individual alongside his party simply for being president. “Imagine a student in elementary school at just ten years old reciting daily party slogans; his innocent mind could not interpret the simplest word he was repeating,” as mentioned by Wafa, a former principal of a school in rural Damascus.
Eight in the morning, I remember the exact time; why not? Forty years I spent teaching, and slogans echoed every day, “Unity, Freedom, Socialism.” I always wondered how I could explain the meaning of these slogans to children who didn’t realize that the teachers themselves were incapable of understanding what we were saying.
Wafa Khoury, Retired teacher
“With the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, our task shifted from being teachers to defenders of the regime; we received orders to participate in pro-regime marches and to force all teachers and students to join,” Wafa Khoury stated.
Maya, 26, who lived in Sahnaya in rural Damascus, shared her story with Enab Baladi, “When I was 12 in sixth grade, the regime robbed my childhood,” expressing sadness over the fear she endured for 14 continuous years.
Maya added, “I remember how we were forced to participate in pro-regime marches in the school’s courtyard; my sister was in the third grade at the same school, and she suffered from a stutter; I was afraid for her if she did not chant with the students that she would be punished.”
No school under the regime was free of pictures of Hafez al-Assad and his son, and the Baath Party’s slogan; throughout Bashar’s rule, students’ success every year was accompanied by his image on graduation documents known as “School Certificate.”
The School Certificate distributed in Syrian schools during the rule of ousted president Bashar al-Assad (Syrian Curriculum)
The glorification of the Assad family did not stop with the father and son only; it extended to the son Basil, whose share was preserved in university stages, as outstanding students at the University of Damascus were awarded an honor certificate named “Basil al-Assad Certificate for Academic Excellence.”
Tina, a media graduate, shared with Enab Baladi that she received this certificate, expressing her surprise: “Imagine excelling only to receive a certificate that reminds you of the glorification of the Assad family.”
She hoped that excelling would help her find a job or exchange experiences with an Arab country, not receiving a certificate “that means nothing now,” according to Tina’s expression.
The Basil al-Assad Certificate for Academic Excellence in university stages
The Baath Party did not stop at the Basil certificate only but extended to issue membership cards for the party in the first year of university without the student’s knowledge or even seeking their opinion about becoming a member of the Baath Party.
“My shock was great when I discovered by chance that my name was listed among university students affiliated with the Baath Party,” this is what Zeina al-Shami recounted to Enab Baladi, who was studying political science at the University of Damascus.
Al-Shami’s affiliation with the Baath Party was not merely a legal document representing her membership; as she followed up on the issue to find out about her affiliation, she discovered she was an active member of the party (members are divided into supporters and active members) when an employee at the university told her that her subscription fees for the past months were fully paid, and she only needed to pay for one additional month.
What about the future?
“I don’t want my children to experience what I went through in schools in Syria,” said Saeed al-Homsi, 38, to Enab Baladi, adding that 54 years of the Assad regime were sufficient to mold five generations who knew only one-party politics and the glorification of the ruler.
Al-Homsi expresses his fear for the future of his two children, aged 4 and 7, hoping that the dissolution of parties would mark the end of any party’s association with the educational curriculum.
After the announcement of the General Command in Syria during the Victory Conference on January 29, dissolving the Baath Party and the National Progressive Front parties, many people wonder about the impact of the past and the party’s ideology on their children in schools and how all of this will change for them without explanation, considering they are unable to comprehend the nature of the transformations that took place in Syria.
Generations of Syrians fell victim to educational indoctrination during Assad era Enab Baladi.
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