The Ministry of Education represented by the following:
- Dr. Nidal Hassan, the Secretary of the Syrian National Commission for UNESCO.
- Mrs. Kifah Al-Haddad, the Director of the Regional Center for Early Childhood Development.
- Mr. Ghassan Shughri, the Director of Planning and International Cooperation.
participated in the meeting of the National Commissions for UNESCO for the Arab countries, within the frame of the series of Virtual and regional meetings held by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics with those involved in educational statistics about basic educational information and the challenges related to the Corona pandemic.
Based on these challenges, the technical team for the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, Education 2030, was held electronically via the Microsoft Team platform on June 1st, 2020; with the participation of 79 participants from various Arab member states of UNESCO.
The meeting aimed to:
- Informing the participants of the procedures taken by UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics to support Member States in the context of the pandemic.
- Informing the participants of the latest data related to education indicators that serve the current situation (Corona).
- To be acquainted with the most important challenges: Data collection interruption and setting up new work mechanisms for work management.
During the meeting, the representatives of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab Countries - Beirut, the UNESCO Bureau for the Gulf States - Doha, and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics made presentations, explained the procedures taken by UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics to set new working mechanisms for administrating labor. In addition, they collect data related to education indicators that Serve the current situation, and support member states in the light of the Corona pandemic.
They also emphasized that the meeting is based on the progress made in the Sustainable Development 4th Goal - Learning 2030, in light of the Corona pandemic, taking into consideration the following factors: (the Global Economy - the Flow of Funds - the Order of Development Priorities - the Distribution of Materials), and how these factors affect the production of the main education data according to the seven aims of the 4th Goal - Education 2030
The Representatives of Jordan, Palestine, and Qatar presented their countries' experiences about the measures that were taken in the light of the Corona crisis in terms of education.
In the context of discussions and interventions, the Secretary of the Syrian National Committee to UNESCO presented an intervention in which he thanked the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in Canada and the UNESCO Bureau in Beirut for organizing this meeting, stressing that the Syrian Arab Republic is making the necessary efforts to approach the fourth goal indicators and achieve them in the field, and has a national report that strengthens these endeavors, It also has plans to meet urgent challenges as well.
In his intervention, he indicated that the government puts its first responsibilities at this stage in providing health care and educational service for all its children, and the government has worked, according to the available capabilities, to secure all means, tools and procedures that guarantee encirclement of the arrival and spread of Corona Virus, investing for this Distance- E-Learning Technologies in order to compensate for Educational losses, and health awareness dissemination.
In this context, he referred to the most important precautionary measures taken by the Ministry of Education, namely:
• Suspending school hours on March 16th, 2020.
• Reducing attendance at school within the limits of maintaining the provision of basic services.
• Postponing examinations and promotion to transitional classes.
• Compensating the educational losses through the educational satellite, educational platforms and blended learning / education window.
• Examinations will be conducted for Grades 9 and 12 on June 21st, 2020.
• Emphasizing on E-learning despite the major challenges.
He pointed out that Syria was exposed ten years ago to an unjust war whose repercussions were reflected in all fields, and what increased its effects was the unjust blockade imposed on our national institutions and the prevention of cooperation with Syria or providing assistance in securing its basic needs.
He concluded his intervention by noting that we need to interfere with all the capabilities and efforts to lift the sanctions and the unfair blockade imposed on our people and our country, and thus enable the Syrian national government to continue its tasks and efforts to secure the care and services needed for those who are entitled to it, and in accordance with the Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic, which guarantees a Dignified life for all Syrians.