Jordan students' status settled, AA universities file delayed

The Higher Education Council of Syrian Transitional Government issued Decision No. 226 on Wednesday, providing for the regularization of the status of Syrian students enrolled at private universities in Jordan whose studies were transferred to Syrian public universities but who did not meet the approved requirements for transfer.

The decision is based on University Organization Law No. 6 of 2006, its implementing regulations and amendments, as well as the Higher Education Council’s internal regulations.

The decision comes as part of a package of measures recently adopted by the Higher Education Council to address the status of students and non-Syrian qualifications. Other decisions have introduced facilitations concerning the recognition of certain postgraduate and university degrees awarded under the LMD system.

Universities in areas under the Autonomous Administration: a file that remains unresolved

While the Ministry of Higher Education is moving to address the status of some students who studied abroad, the issue of universities established and operating in areas under the Autonomous Administration during the years of war remains unresolved.

Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported in May that the issue of recognizing and accrediting certificates issued by educational institutions affiliated with the Autonomous Administration, including university degrees, remained under consideration, with no clear implementation steps taken despite ongoing discussions and meetings on integrating educational institutions.

On April 21, the agency reported that preparations were underway for a meeting in Hasakah bringing together the Education and Teaching Authority, the Coordination of Universities of North and East Syria, and Syria's Ministries of Education and Higher Education. The meeting was intended to discuss the educational situation and mechanisms for recognizing and accrediting certificates issued under the Autonomous Administration’s curricula.

Despite this, the agency said that degrees issued by universities in North and East Syria remained outside the framework of official recognition and accreditation. Meanwhile, in June, the Ministry of Education decided to recognize basic and secondary education certificates issued by the Autonomous Administration and allow students who had studied under its curricula to sit for the general certificate examinations during the 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 academic years.

The agency also quoted students at universities and institutes in the region as calling for the recognition process to be extended to include university and institute degrees. They stressed that recognition of educational certificates should not be limited to basic and secondary education.

Differences in the handling of educational cases

The decision to regularize the status of students transferred from Jordanian universities raises a broader question about how educational cases arising from the circumstances of war and Syria's administrative and institutional divisions are being addressed.

Over the past years, thousands of students have been forced to change their places of study or transfer between universities inside and outside the country as a result of military operations, displacement, and shifts in territorial control. This has created academic cases that do not always fit within conventional transfer requirements.