An October 2026 report by IMPACT-se examines how Syria’s school curriculum changed after President Ahmed al-Sharaa took office following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Reviewing 130 textbooks for the 2025-2026 school year, the study identifies a shift from Ba’athist and pan-Arab nationalist narratives toward a Sunni Islamist conception of Syrian identity. It finds that revised textbooks marginalize minorities, diminish women’s representation, and give religious meaning to glorified violence, while retaining anti-Semitic portrayals of Jews and hostility toward Israel.
The following is an executive summary of the report. For the full report, click here.
IMPACT-se’s October 2026 report, The New Syria: Education Under al-Sharaa, analyzes 130 textbooks used in Grades 1-12 during the 2025-2026 school year, the first under Syria’s new administration. Using its UNESCO-derived standards for peace and tolerance in education, the organization compares the books with Assad-era editions published between 2011 and 2023. Although the revisions affect selected chapters and passages rather than constitute a complete textbook overhaul, the report finds that they reveal a significant ideological transformation.
According to the study, Sunni Islamist identity increasingly supersedes Syrian patriotism and pan-Arab nationalism. Loyalty to the broader Muslim community receives greater emphasis, while Islamic law and religious authority displace elements of secular civic education. The curriculum also revises scientific and philosophical material to conform to religious doctrine, including removing or altering content on evolution and the Big Bang.
The report finds that religious and ethnic diversity receives diminished recognition. It removes or modifies lessons supporting religious tolerance, equality before the law, and Muslim-Christian coexistence. Christians remain visible, but revised passages subordinate their place in society to Islamic religious authority. Kurds, Turkmen, and Druze are largely absent, while Shi‘i and Alawite traditions receive increasingly negative treatment. Jews continue to be depicted through anti-Semitic stereotypes, including allegations of enduring treachery and hostility, and their collective national identity is denied.
Violence, jihad, and martyrdom remain prominent educational themes, increasingly framed as religious obligations rather than service to the homeland. Literary, historical, and religious lessons celebrate armed struggle and self-sacrifice, while peaceful conflict resolution receives little attention. The study also identifies reduced support for gender equality: women appear predominantly as wives and mothers, illustrations impose stricter religious dress, and references to women’s public participation and legal equality have been removed.
The curriculum dismantles the Assad personality cult and recasts the former government as oppressive, sectarian, and destructive. Regional narratives also change. Iran and Hezbollah lose their previous favorable treatment and are associated with the Assad government’s abuses. Turkey and the Ottoman Empire receive more positive portrayals, and revised maps place Hatay within Turkey. Hostile depictions of Western powers persist, particularly portrayals of the United States as a force for exploitation, military intervention, and instability.
The report finds little corresponding moderation toward Israel. Textbooks continue to deny its legitimacy, justify Palestinian violence, and portray peace agreements negatively. The Golan Heights receives less emphasis as a specifically Syrian territorial issue and is increasingly situated within a broader religious narrative concerning Muslim lands. Overall, IMPACT-se concludes that the revisions replace much of the former government’s ideological framework without establishing a consistent commitment to pluralism, equality, or coexistence.
Source: Matan Perchikov, Itam Shalev, Yonatan Negev, “The New Syria: Education Under al-Sharaa Review of Syria’s National School Curriculum, 2025–2026,” IMPACT-se, (October 19, 2026).