MUSALIHA aims to define a clearer state of the art, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, of the current Syrian higher education system and to develop recommendations for international stakeholders and local institutions in order to ensure an effective re-establishment of university cooperation capable to carry out peace-building actions in the country. After ten years of civil war, Syrian society and related higher education institutions are attempting a progressive return to normality. This is witnessed by the growing attention of many international stakeholders who are once again starting to observe their performance and analyse their needs in order to recover the last, disastrous, years of lack of cooperation.
Examples include the very recent studies by DAAD, “The status of Syrian higher education: assessments by Syrian DAAD alumni and scholarship holders by Suad Shumareye (DAAD, Bonn)” presented during the conference focused on the Higher Education in Syria after a decade of war (15 April 2021) organized by DAAD and the GJU (German-Jordanian University). The objective of these initiatives is clear: to analyse one of the few sectors in the country that is gradually recovering (the proliferation of universities and higher education institutions in recent years has been remarkable) in order to achieve an adequate level of understanding of the local situation and try to understand the old and new balances.
Higher education in Syria as a tool for reconciliation and peacebuilding
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