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"There have been amendments that interfere with the Islamic ideology of society and education,” Mar Boutros Qassis, the archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo, said.
Syria’s education ministry published a list of planned changes to Syria’s school curriculum on Wednesday in a post on Facebook.
Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is Syria's new de facto leader since Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad was deposed by Syrian rebels led by al-Julani's organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of al Qaeda, in early December.
The changes include changing the phrases “path of goodness” to “Islamic path” and “those who are damned and have gone astray” to “Jews and Christians.”
They redefine the word “martyr” from someone who died for a homeland to someone who sacrifices themself “for the sake of God.” The phrase “defending the nation” is set to be replaced with “defending Allah.” The phrase “God’s Sharia” was replaced with “Law of Justice,” and the phrase “human brotherhood” was changed to “faith brotherhood.”
They also proposed to remove any references to deposed president Bashar al-Assad and his family.
Additionally, there were several changes to references of the Ottoman Empire. The phrase “Ottoman Administration” will replace “Ottoman Occupation,” and references to the 1916 mass execution of Arab nationalists under the Ottomans were removed.
Another proposed amendment was to remove references to evolution from the science curriculum.
Education Minister Nazir al-Qadri said the curriculum is essentially unchanged and will remain the same until specialized committees are able to review and revise the proposed changes. “The curricula in all Syrian schools will remain as is until specialized committees are formed to review” them, he said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Mar Boutros Qassis, the archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo, said in response to the changes, “There have been changes related to the Assad regime…which are understandable, however, there have also been amendments that interfere with the Islamic ideology of society and education,” according to the WSJ.
