Education staff and Kurdish curriculum face uncertainty in Aleppo, Afrin

As the 2026–2027 academic year approaches, questions are growing over the future of teachers, students and curricula, particularly education in Kurdish, which was one of the major gains achieved during the years since the July 19 Revolution. It has also been among the key issues discussed in recent negotiations between Damascus and the Autonomous Administration.

During the period when Autonomous Administration institutions operated in the area, the education system in Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh and Afrin used Kurdish as the primary language of instruction. The administration established schools, institutes and universities. The fate of the 4,265 teachers and employees, according to official figures, is therefore directly linked to the future of these curricula and institutions, amid a lack of official clarification over their employment status.

In Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, according to documentation by ANHA News Agency, there were 13 schools, including three schools affiliated with the Autonomous Administration and 10 jointly run by Syria’s transitional government and the Autonomous Administration. They served around 25,000 students across primary, preparatory and secondary levels, in addition to the Zozan Yusuf Martyr Institute for Teacher Training.

More than 400 teachers, most of them affiliated with the Education and Teaching Authority of the Autonomous Administration, worked in the two neighborhoods in various fields before the areas came under attack, bringing education to a halt and forcing residents to flee at the beginning of this year.

Teachers Take Initiative Amid Uncertainty Over Their Fate

Following the return of displaced people to their homes from Kobani and Hasakah province, in line with the terms of the latest agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the transitional government, a delegation of teachers from Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh visited the Aleppo Education Directorate. They sought to meet Education Director Anas Qassem, discuss their situation and demand clarification over their employment status.

According to the teachers, the delegation was unable to hold a direct meeting with the education director. Instead, they attempted to discuss their situation with his office director, Hassan Sukkar, and Safiya Thalaja at the Administrative Development Office of the Aleppo Education Directorate. However, the responses they received did not clearly explain their employment future or how they would be integrated.

The teachers said Safiya Thalaja asked them to resubmit their files in Excel format so they could be forwarded to Damascus, even though they had already submitted their files about four months ago.

The request raised concerns among the teachers, particularly over the possibility of further delays. They questioned the fate of the files they had previously submitted and how long it would take for their cases to be reviewed and decisions made regarding their employment status.

How Did Kurdish-Language Education Begin in Aleppo?

Kurdish-language education in Aleppo did not begin with the July 19 Revolution. Its roots go back decades, when groups of residents organized secret lessons to teach Kurdish grammar in their homes during the 1980s and 1990s. The initiative expanded following the outbreak of the July 19, 2012 Revolution.

In 2012, the first Kurdish-language institution was opened in the western section of Sheikh Maqsoud. It graduated four cohorts under the supervision of six specialized teachers before closing seven months later due to the war that affected the two neighborhoods.

Education resumed in 2013, while a decision was issued in 2014 to introduce Kurdish as a subject into the school curriculum in the two neighborhoods.

Following the attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in 2016, Kurdish-language lessons were moved to building basements. Efforts to teach the language later continued through the Democratic Society Training and Education Committee.

After Afrin residents were displaced to Aleppo in 2018, a house in western Sheikh Maqsoud was designated for Kurdish-language instruction. The initiative later developed into the Kahraman Afrin School in 2020, following the Autonomous Administration’s curriculum.

As student enrollment increased, the Avashin Dehmat and Judi Amanos schools were opened in 2022, followed by the Zozan Yusuf Martyr Institute in 2023 to train male and female teachers.

From a Pioneering School to Secondary Education: The Development of Kurdish Education in Afrin

In the Afrin region, the education sector underwent significant development before the Turkish occupation, including the opening of the first school, institute and university providing education in the Kurdish mother tongue.

On October 6, 2011, the first school teaching Kurdish in Afrin and across Rojava was opened in Daraqilya village. It was named the Martyr Fawzi School.

Before the Turkish occupation, the city of Afrin had 318 schools, serving around 50,000 pupils and students at primary, preparatory and secondary levels, with a staff of 3,712 teachers and employees, in addition to dozens of private schools.

The Vian Amara Institute was established in 2014, with 11 departments dedicated to training and qualifying teachers in various specializations. It had around 500 students and was supervised by 82 teachers, alongside dozens of employees.

In August 2015, Afrin University was opened with six faculties: medicine, electromechanical engineering, media, economics, agriculture and Kurdish literature. Before the war, the university had 469 students, supervised by 51 specialists and around 20 male and female employees.

However, the Turkish offensive on the region brought educational institutions to a halt as shelling posed a threat to the lives of students and education staff. Following the occupation, educational institutions were subjected to looting and vandalism, while some were turned into bases for the Turkish occupation forces and affiliated mercenaries.

The Afrin–Syria Human Rights Organization told Hawar News Agency that 65 Kurdish-language teachers were abducted during that period, describing the move as an attempt to disrupt the educational process by targeting its teaching staff.

Thus, Kurdish-language education, which began with secret lessons in homes and developed into schools, institutes and a university, has reached a critical juncture, with teaching staff in Afrin and the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods still excluded from the integration process.

The situation leaves the future of 4,265 teachers and employees, Kurdish-language curricula and thousands of students uncertain, according to observers, as the 2026–2027 academic year approaches. They await an official clarification to determine their fate and establish how they will be integrated into the new educational institutions.

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ANHA