New admission rules have sparked claims of gender discrimination by the country’s Islamist government
Syria’s new Islamist government has barred women from enrolling in several university and technical programs, drawing public criticism.
The rules for the 2026-2027 academic year affect several institutions, including two universities established in July under Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa, a former leader of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), rose to power following the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December 2024. He was appointed transitional president in January 2025 and has since pledged to build an inclusive government.
According to documents published by the Ministry of Higher Education, women are excluded from military engineering programs, as well as legal and social sciences, management, and economics at the National University for Defense Sciences. Another institution, the Syrian University for Security Sciences, reserves several programs for men, although women remain eligible to study cybersecurity.
The restrictions extend to technical institutes specializing in oil and gas, railway transport and radio and television directing. Under the previous academic year’s rules, women could still enroll in certain oil and gas programs, including accounting and precision instruments.
Criticism has come from students and educators. “No one has the right to force me to choose a particular field of study or exclude me from another,” Israa Salloum, a high school graduate preparing to apply to university, told AFP.
A constitutional declaration adopted in March 2025 guarantees women’s right to education.
The rules contrast with recent efforts to expand women’s participation in law enforcement. In September, Syria graduated its first class of 150 female police officers following six months of training.
Since taking power, Syria’s new authorities have faced criticism over measures affecting women’s freedoms. In September, a prominent Damascus school reportedly announced plans to separate male and female students from middle school onward. Four feminist and civil society organizations also accused the authorities in August of restricting freedoms and imposing forms of social control that particularly affect women.
The new admission rules do not include a blanket ban on women studying law or engineering, with such programs remaining available at other Syrian universities.
