Militarization of the education in Ba'athist Syria is a process of ideological indoctrination in the schools of Ba'athist Syria, aimed at developing a military mindset in the youth and giving them military skills. In Syria (especially during the rule of President Hafez al-Assad), educational institutions underwent a militaristic transformation and actively participated in the spread of such ideals among the students. Students were often drawn into pro-government marches, and the school itself hosted multiple military exercises and events. there was significant indoctrination of youth through special and mandatory classes. During the rule of Hafez al-Assad, Syria was one of the most militarized states in the world with huge army (500,000 soldiers in 1986) and always rising military spending - Assadism promoted particularly militaristic ideas throughout Syria.
History
State control over the education system
According to the Constitution of Syria of 1973, Chapter 3: Educational and Cultural Principles, Article 21, it is written:The educational and cultural system aims at creating a socialist nationalist Arab generation which is scientifically minded and attached to its history and land, proud of its heritage, and filled with the spirit of struggle to achieve its nation's objectives of unity, freedom, and socialism, and to serve humanity and its progress. A year before adoption of this constitution, in 1972, the charter of the National Progressive Front (a coalition of Syrian leftist parties formed and controlled by neo-Ba'athists) was approved, which prohibited work and any activity of all non-Ba'athist factions on the educational system, leaving it essentially under the control of the Ba'ath Party alone. As a result, the ruling party's ideological views formed the basis of its education policy. To control and shape the educational system, the Ba'ath Party formed two organizations - the Education and Vanguard Bureau (which managed primary and secondary education) and the Higher Education Bureau (which managed higher and university education). In addition, a number of youth organizations were formed - the National Union of Syrian Students (formed in 1963) was engaged in organizing students in universities and colleges, the Revolutionary Youth Union (formed in 1970) was for middle and high school students aged 12 to 18, and al-Ba'ath Vanguard (formed in 1974) - for elementary school students. These organizations were involved in organizing and conducting various events for students, and actively participated in the propaganda of Assadism and Ba'athism among them, as well as the introduction of a whole list of values and norms of behavior, such as loyalty to the party and the leader. This propaganda proved to be very effective due to the wide availability of education in the country (which was free and compulsory). Thus, Syrian schools were characterized by militaristic and very strict discipline.
Introduction and abolition of military education
The military and "patriotic" education system in Syrian schools began to be introduced in the 1970s after General Hafez al-Assad came to power, although the preconditions for this existed even earlier. The Assad regime was very active in militarizing society - even the civilian sector of the state was given over to strong militarism. Assad's rule led to the formation of a very personalistic ideology based on his thinking and the way he ran the country - Assadism. Assadism promoted a very militaristic agenda. Military education, that was introduced in 1970s, included: mandatory wearing of a military-school uniform, additional (and mandatory) school lessons in the presence of army officers, sending students to military camps for several days to receive training, as well as marches and events with a military focus. Military education eventually became a very large part of the entire education system in Syria during the time of Hafez al-Assad. However, after his death, Bashar al-Assad came to power and set (at least initially) a course of reform. This led to the fact that in May of 2003 all military education in all schools was abolished - classes were removed from the schedule, military camps were replaced by more "civilian" summer activities (supervised by the RYU), and military uniforms were replaced by blue school uniforms for boys and pink for girls.
Demands to return military education However, since the start of the civil war in 2011, there have been increasing calls from Ba'athist government officials for the return of military education to schools - for example, the Damascus Provincial Council has stated that the resulting "state of neglect" was the result of the abolition of military education. The Ba'ath Party began to seriously consider reintroducing military education into the school curriculum, in order, as they said, to "combat the immorality of the youth." This idea was also repeatedly discussed at meetings of the Council of the Central Teachers' Union "as a necessity in the conditions of the global war waged by Syria." In 2017, it was announced that military education would eventually be reintroduced into the curriculum. Many supporters of the regime also demanded the restoration of military education in schools. The media expressed concerns that with the return of military education, schools would once again become places for political mobilization of youth. In 2024, the government approved the formation of a "School Discipline Department" to train relevant personnel and manage student behavior and discipline.
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