Universities’ crisis worsening in northern Syria

The International Rescue University (IRU) in the countryside of Idlib closed its doors on 6 February as part of a series of shutdowns of private universities that have not received licences from the Higher Education Council, which has essentially been running the university educational process in Idlib, reports Enab Baladi.

The Higher Education Council issued a decision on 12 January to suspend the exams process at the IRU, Al Rayan International University, Aram Science University, the Syrian University of Medicine and Shams Elkoulub University. Each of these universities had been given one month to settle its legal situation and complete its licence, which has not yet been done so far.

During the protests that preceded the IRU’s closure decision, Enab Baladi canvassed the views of some of the students who reject the decision, including Ahmed Sharfan, who addressed the Higher Education Council, saying: “Our university provides free education to the forcibly displaced people and the children of the martyrs and detainees, which you could not provide. We will not allow anyone to close our university and ruin our future.”
Full report on the Enab Baladi site