Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Syria, Eyeing Advantages of Education, Opens a Virtual University By DANIEL DEL CASTILLO Damascus, Syria In just eight months, the government of Syria has built and opened the country's first electronic university, continuing a gradual move from a Soviet-style closed society to a more open, Western-oriented model. The new, state-owned institution, known as the Syrian Virtual University, has begun accepting students and plans to be operational for the fall semester with an enrollment of 600. The university will be entirely online. Administrators say it will eventually design its own content and grant degrees, which they hope will give it a pan-Arab appeal that will draw students from throughout the region. Initially, however, the university will act as a clearinghouse for courses from 20 American and European universities it has signed agreements with. Syrian students will use the facilities and advising network here, but will obtain degrees from the foreign institutions. The virtual university will concentrate on science, engineering, and information technology -- fields in which Syrian universities traditionally have lagged. While instruction will be in English and European languages at first, ambitious plans call for eventually franchising the university throughout the Middle East, with courses taught in languages like Arabic, Armenian, and Farsi. "Our target isn't only Syrian students," says Hassan Risheh, the minister of higher education. "I have been to Central Asia, and I've seen how hungry they are for knowledge about Islam and Islamic culture. We could also teach them a lot about our own ancient Mesopotamian heritage through interdisciplinary programs." "Our model is unique," says Milad Fares Sebaaly, who is the university's chief consultant and a professor of information technology at the American University in Dubai. "Although it's virtual in the American sense, it differs from American programs, which tend to be situated in one state or sometimes a few. Here we are open; students can get degrees from around the world, from California to New Zealand." Tuition will be set by the degree-granting universities -- and may be stratospheric, relative to Syrian incomes. For the first couple of years, the virtual university is aiming to attract members of the privileged upper class who know foreign languages and can spend around $7,000 per year to take online classes. "What we're doing is providing the infrastructure for all administrative services: career planning, a virtual library, bookstore, academic advising, and a local payment system," Mr. Sebaaly says. "We are also building a virtual community of advisers of Syrian and other Arab nationals who are Western-educated and who can help guide students along their journey from admission to graduation." The inherent difficulties of academic life are compounded in a country like Syria, which has an inconvertible currency -- making the payment of tuition in dollars or euros extremely difficult. Moreover, it was just two years ago that the Internet reached Syria, which has only two service providers and 40,000 subscribers in a country of 17 million people. To aid students who lack computers or Internet access, the university is building 10 "telecenters" in Syria's most populous regions. Each will be equipped with around 40 computers and high-speed Internet access. During a test run this summer, 50 students will run the computers through their paces and help officials debug and fine-tune the various programs for their fall inauguration. Although there are no facilities for videoconferencing, officials say that may come in the future, as synchronous technology develops further. The Syrian government has given an unprecedented amount of support to the new university. "Higher education is the key to the success of our national economy," says Mr. Risheh. "We must encourage science and technology and focus on a wide range of research, and we can do that through the Syrian Virtual University. We are suffering from a lack of participation in the global economy, and higher education is our way out." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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