Syria Begins Integration of Gaziantep and Health Sciences Faculties
The Syrian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research began implementation on Wednesday of a plan to integrate faculties and students previously associated with Gaziantep University and the University of Health Sciences in northern Syria into the national higher education system.
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Marwan al-Halabi, confirmed via his official page that the ministry has initiated the necessary measures to ensure a comprehensive and orderly institutional transition. A special committee has been formed at the University of Aleppo, headed by the university’s president, Mohamed Osama Raadoun. This committee is tasked with overseeing the integration process, which includes university facilities, buildings, academic and administrative staff, and student academic records. The committee held its first meeting at the University of Aleppo on Wednesday to commence its duties.
In a related effort, the ministry has formed a ministerial committee in Damascus to oversee the files of students from the branch of the University of Health Sciences located in the al-Ra’i area of northern Syria. This committee has already begun its work to ensure the procedures for transferring these students to Syrian universities are completed, following a Supreme Council of Higher Education meeting held last Sunday to establish the implementation framework for this transition.
Minister al-Halabi emphasized that these actions follow a series of meetings aimed at creating a clear structure for the final implementation phase. He stated that the relevant committees will continue their intensive meetings throughout the current week, with official executive instructions governing the complete and final integration process expected to be issued next week.
The ministry affirmed that its priority in this file is to safeguard the rights of all involved parties, including students and academic and administrative staff, to ensure the stability of the educational process. These actions follow the signing of an official memorandum of understanding between the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education and the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK) last Wednesday, which provided for the transfer of these educational institution branches into the Syrian national system to resolve their academic and legal status.
Source: Syria Focus Arabic
