Syria Approves 938 Schools to Teach Kurdish

Kurdistan 05:59 PM - 2026-09-13

Syrian Education Ministry's building.

The Syrian Ministry of Education has approved a preliminary list of 938 schools designated to provide Kurdish-language education across four governorates, as part of efforts to regulate Kurdish-language teaching within the country’s formal education system.

According to the ministry-approved lists, 608 schools are in Al-Hasakah Governorate, 308 in Aleppo, 17 in Damascus and five in Hama.

In Damascus, the schools included in the decision are located in the Rukn al-Din and Douma districts and cover primary and intermediate education.

The five schools listed in Hama Governorate are Jurayjis, Al-Sawda, Khirbat al-Jami‘, Uthman bin Affan and Fatimah bint As‘ad.

Measures to Regulate Kurdish Education

The approval of the school lists is part of a broader series of measures introduced by the Syrian Ministry of Education concerning the education of Kurdish students, including curricula, Kurdish language education and teaching staff.

On 11 September 2026, the ministry issued a decision allowing students holding basic education certificates and academic documents previously issued by the “Autonomous Administration” to register in Syrian schools. The decision also regulates their transfer and enrolment in transitional grades, in accordance with Law No. 31 of 2024 and Decree No. 13 of 2026 concerning Syrian Kurdish citizens, as well as relevant executive regulations.

Protests Over Kurdish-Language Education

The decision follows widespread protests on 2 September 2026, when thousands of students, teachers and residents demonstrated in several cities and areas in Western Kurdistan against an Education Ministry decision allocating only three hours per week for Kurdish-language instruction.

Protests were reported in Kobani, Qamishlo, Tel Tamr, Zarkan, Girkê Legê and Al-Hasakah, among other areas. Demonstrators called for the right to education in their mother tongue, raising slogans including “Our language is our existence and our identity” and “Education in the mother tongue is a legitimate and fundamental right.”

Amendments to Decree No. 13

On 28 August 2026, the Ministry of Education issued a decision amending the executive regulations for implementing Decree No. 13 of 2026. The amendments addressed provisions concerning educational curricula and teaching staff.

Syria's Presidential Advisor Mazloum Abdi said on 25 August that the right to education in Kurdish was among the most important rights the Kurdish people had sought for decades. He said there had been an open position from the Syrian president regarding mother-tongue education and the possibility of developing the existing decision in the future.

Ilham Ahmed said on 31 August that recent discussions concerning Syria had focused on mother-tongue education. She described Kurdish concerns over the amendments to Decree No. 13 as justified and said the “major struggle” would be to protect the Kurdish language and Kurdish rights within the Syrian constitution.

Kurdish Language and National Identity

On 26 January 2026, the Ministry of Education issued executive instructions for implementing Decree No. 13 of 2026. The decree recognises Syrian Kurds as an integral part of the Syrian people and their cultural and linguistic identity as a fundamental component of Syria’s unified and pluralistic national identity.

The approval of 938 schools for Kurdish-language instruction marks a step towards incorporating Kurdish teaching into the formal education system. It comes alongside measures governing student registration, transfers and the recognition of academic documents previously issued by the “Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria”.



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