Syria - Education



Elementary schooling is free and compulsory for six years. The adult illiteracy rates for the year 2000 were estimated at 25.6% (males, 11.7%; females, 39.6%). The school program starts with a primary course, after which the student may obtain an elementary-school certificate. In 1997 there were 2,690,205 primary-school pupils with 114,689 teachers in 10,783 schools. Student-to-teacher ratio stood at 23 to 1. At the secondary level in the same year, there were 957,664 students and 64,661 teachers. As of 1999, 92% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, while 38% of those eligible attended secondary school. Syria has four universities: the University of Damascus (founded in 1923); the University of Aleppo (1960); Tishrin University (Latakia, 1971); and Al-Ba'ath University in Homs (1979). In 1995, all higher-level institutions had a total of 4,733 teachers and 215,734 students. As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 2.8% of GDP.

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