Education in Syria Despite being a low-income country with a growing population, Syria has a good basic education system. The Baath Party promotes the idea that education is one of the foundations of economic development. Syria’s literacy rate of 60 percent for men and 50 percent for women, according to one estimate, is higher than Egypt’s but lower than that of Jordan or Lebanon. Other sources cite a literacy rate of 76.9 percent total, 89.7 percent for men and 64 percent for women, in 2003. Most education is state provided, but legislation passed in 2001 allows the establishment of some private schools and colleges. Resources for education have risen in absolute terms over the past decade, but it is difficult to match the rate of population growth. Showing an increase over 2002 spending, 8.6 percent of the state budget was earmarked for education in 2003. Six years of primary school for children ages 6–11 are free and compulsory, and enrollment is near 100 percent for both boys and girls. At the secondary level, the education system also includes three years of general or vocational education followed by three years of academic or vocational education. However, classes are large and facilities poor at all levels. Domestic policies emphasize engineering and medicine in Syria’s four universities, with less emphasis on the arts, law, and business. In September 2002, the president founded the country’s first virtual university through which students can obtain degrees from U.S. institutions. This measure and others, such as making computer literacy mandatory at the high-school level and English- and French-language instruction compulsory in the elementary schools, have the goal of equipping students with computer and language skills in order to modernize the economy through the education system. Baath Party flag The Arab Socialist Bath Party (also spelled Baath or Baath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was founded in 1945 as a radical, secular Arab nationalist political party. ...

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