عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Rising Interest in Russian Language in Syria

Russian language class at a school in Syria (SANA)
Russian language class at a school in Syria (SANA)
TT
TT

Rising Interest in Russian Language in Syria

Russian language class at a school in Syria (SANA)
Russian language class at a school in Syria (SANA)

As the 10th anniversary of Russia’s military intervention in Syria approaches on Sep. 30, and with the new school year starting, Syrian Ministry of Education figures show a notable rise in students learning Russian.
There are now 39,500 students from seventh grade through the second year of secondary school studying Russian, according to Bassam Al-Tawil, the top Russian language instructor at the Ministry, speaking to SANA.
In 2020, around 24,000 students were studying Russian. By 2021, this number had increased to over 31,000, spread across 217 schools in 12 provinces, with a teaching staff of 190 instructors.
Since its military intervention in Syria in 2014, Russia has focused on increasing its cultural influence through education.
The Syrian government introduced Russian as a second foreign language option in schools starting from the 2014-2015 academic year, alongside English or French, for students in the later stages of basic education.
A Russian language department was also set up at Damascus University that year.
In the past nine years, Russia has expanded Russian language education by equipping classrooms with interactive tools, opening more classes and centers, training teachers, and organizing camps in Russia for Syrian students.
Recently, the Syrian Ministry of Education received about 5,000 copies of a new “Russian Language Curriculum” textbook for seventh grade. Created by a joint committee from Syria and Russia, the textbook will be tested this year.
Dr. Rami Al-Dalli, Deputy Minister of Education, announced that the book, delivered by a Russian organization, will be distributed to schools in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, Sweida, and Daraa—areas with the most Russian language classes.
Al-Dalli said this move marks the “culmination” of the collaboration between the Syrian and Russian education ministries and aims to enhance their partnership.
According to SANA, Alexei Cherkizov, known for his involvement with the “Global Christian Union,” the organization which distributed the curriculum in Syria, reported that “1,000 Syrian students receive scholarships to study in Russia each year, totaling 5,000 Syrian students currently in Russian universities.”
He also noted that six remote Russian language classes have been offered by the Syrian Ministry of Education for the past four years.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Dozens Feared Dead after Dam Bursts in Eastern Sudan

Sudanese queue to fill on water Port Sudan on August 26, 2024, after a dam collapsed as a result of heavy rain. (AFP)
Sudanese queue to fill on water Port Sudan on August 26, 2024, after a dam collapsed as a result of heavy rain. (AFP)
TT
TT

Dozens Feared Dead after Dam Bursts in Eastern Sudan

Sudanese queue to fill on water Port Sudan on August 26, 2024, after a dam collapsed as a result of heavy rain. (AFP)
Sudanese queue to fill on water Port Sudan on August 26, 2024, after a dam collapsed as a result of heavy rain. (AFP)

Surging waters have burst through a dam, wiped out at least five villages and left an unknown number of people dead in eastern Sudan, officials said on Monday, devastating a region already reeling from months of civil war.

Torrential rains caused floods that overwhelmed the Arbaat Dam on Sunday just 40km (25 miles) north of Port Sudan, the de facto national capital and base for the government, diplomats, aid agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

"The area is unrecognizable. The electricity and water pipes are destroyed," Omar Eissa Haroun, head of the water authority for Red Sea state, said in a WhatsApp message to staff.

He said he had seen the bodies of gold miners and pieces of their equipment wrecked in the deluge, and likened the disaster to the devastation in the eastern Libyan city of Derna in September last year when storm waters burst dams, swept away buildings and killed thousands.

On the road to Arbaat on Monday a Reuters reporter saw people burying a man and covering his grave with driftwood to try to prevent it from being washed away in mudslides.

The dam was the main source of water for Port Sudan, which is home to the country's main Red Sea port and working airport, and receives most of the country's much-needed aid deliveries.

"The city is threatened with thirst in the coming days," the Sudanese Environmentalists Association said in a statement.

CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE

Officials said the dam had started crumbling and silt had been building during days of heavy rain that had come much earlier than usual.

Sudan's dams, roads and bridges were already in disrepair before the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Forces began in April 2023.

Both sides have since funneled the bulk of their resources into the conflict, leaving infrastructure badly neglected.

Some people had fled their flooded homes in five devastated villages and headed to the mountains where they were now stranded, the health ministry said.

On Monday, the government's rainy season taskforce said 132 people had been killed in floods across the country, up from 68 two weeks ago. At least 118,000 people have been displaced by the rains this year, according to United Nations agencies.

The conflict in Sudan began when competition between the army and the RSF, who had previously shared power after staging a coup, flared into open warfare.

The two sides had been seeking to protect their power and extensive economic interests as the international community promoted a plan for a transition towards civilian rule.

Overlapping efforts in pursuit of a ceasefire, including Saudi- and US-led talks in Jeddah, have not eased the fighting and half of the 50 million population lack sufficient food.