Reports | 25 05 2020
College students in Syria generally suffer a tragic fate that is rarely heard by the public. From security issues to the difficulties they face moving between different Syrian cities t attend classes, to the high prices that force most of them to either quit school or work in order to pay for their education, Syrian students have a story to tell.
Economic Challenges
Uthman, a fourth-year civil engineering student, worries more about securing his college expenses than he does about the daily bombs falling around his university.
Uthman says that three years ago, he worked as a waiter in a night club in Jaramanah, in rural Damascus, so he could earn his personal and college expenses. But since he lost his job, Uthman had to quit school, because he could not afford the high prices of the academic materials that he needed.
“I tried to find another job, but in vain. Everything is very expensive. The costs of only photocopied materials and Xeroxing reaches more than 5,000 Syrian pounds every month. That is in addition to the costs of housing and transportation,” said Uthman.
Farah, a young woman from Deir Ezzor, studies literature at the University of Damascus. Since she lost communication with her family, Farah was forced to work in order to secure income, because she had to leave the house she had rented, and move to the college dormitory.
College materials have become so expensive that no Syrian family can afford them, and most college students in Damascus have been forced to work in various fields, and female students have even been working in restaurants and cafes in order to cover their study expenses.
Students Quit School
Thousands of students have quit their studies due to the deteriorating economic situation in the country.
Fatima, a 23-year-old girl, had completed the first two years of her studies in the Media Department at Damascus University, when her family decided to immigrate to Europe two years ago. She quit school, and low lives with her family in a small country house in Norway. Fatima begged her mother to postpone their decision, so that she could complete her studies, but they were too scared to stay, and they preferred for her to lose her degree, than to take the risk of losing her. “Everything has changed since I quit school. I sometimes feel that all I want is to go back. I cannot cope with life here,” Fatima said.
Yasser also quit his studies at Damascus University, and escaped to his village in Mount Zawiya when he learned that a colleague had reported him to be pro-opposition, and that he was wanted by the Syrian regime. “I stayed in my village, which had been under the control of the opposition for 20 months. I could not accomplish anything during that time, so I decided to immigrate to Europe. I now live in a camp in Hanover, in Germany. I am learning German, so that I can go back to school as soon as possible,” he said.
Joining Armed Groups
Although this phenomenon has subsided recently, since 2012, hundreds of students quit their studies to join either the armed groups of the opposition, or the regime’s army, especially in Aleppo, Idlib, and Rif Dimashq [rural Damascus]. Since 2012, hundreds of students have joined the armed opposition.
Munthir told Rozana the details of his story and how he joined the armed opposition. He had studied for three years in the Geography Department at Damascus University, when the fighting broke out in his home village. “Although I was very close to graduation, I could not tolerate all the destruction that the regime had caused in my home village, so I decided to quit school to join the armed opposition,” he said.
Munthir works now with his father on a farm, and he joins the fighting every now and then, and he is an active member of the civil defense group in his village, which is a part of the opposition.
Hussein, on the hand, joined the regime’s “civil defense” group in Kanaker, in rural Damascus. “At the beginning, my fighting duties were all assigned on Fridays, but later on I decided to quit my studies in order to be a full time fighter with the civil defense. No body forced me to quit school. I wanted to do that,” said Hussein, who had completed his first two years, studying to become a dentist.