Syria receives thousands of Russia language books, in accelerated drive to teach Russian countrywide 

Syria’s Ministry of Education has announced that it has received five thousand copies of a Russian language book to implement in its new school curriculum, as the regime attempts to increasingly promote Russian in schools throughout Syria.

According to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the Syrian regime’s Deputy Minister of Education, Rami Al-Dalli, revealed that the Ministry had received five thousand books for teaching the Russian language from the organisation, the Russian Union of the Christian World.

Those books are reportedly the first batch of a total of ten thousand copies that will be distributed for seventh grade students in the country, in what is an experimental programme.

Bassam Al-Tawil, the Ministry’s first supervisor of the Russian language subject, was cited as saying that the book will be taught this year experimentally in the provinces of Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, As-Suwayda and Daraa.

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He also highlighted that the number of Syrian seventh grade students studying the Russian language numbers 8,500, while the total number of all Syrian students studying Russian in Syria is 39,500.

Syria’s push to expand the teaching of Russian within the country comes at a time when relations between Damascus and Moscow continue to strengthen, not only in the diplomatic and military sectors, but also in the spheres of education and cultural exchange.

This new Russian language book – developed in 2022 but with significant delays in their delivery to Syria – is also specifically catered towards Syrian and Arab students, with it having been authored through a joint committee from the Syrian and Russian education ministries.

According to Alexei Churkezov, the head of the Russian Union of the Christian World, the Russian books previously sent to students in Syria did not meet suitable standards for teaching the language in the country, “so our mission was to find a joint book authored by both Russian and Syrian sides to be easy to teach, circulate and collect the necessary information from both the Russian and Syrian sides.”