“Are we genuine representatives?”

During our stay in Syria we had the oppertunity to meet with Amer Zaki, the president of the National Union of Syrian Students, or NUSS.

 

Members of NUSS make up 65% of the 500,000 Syrian students in higher education.

“Our organization encompasses students from all political parties.”

 

Regardless of this assertion, NUSS operates largely under the ruling powers of the Baath party. The organization was founded by late president Hafez al-Assad in 1950. It is the only such group that the late president founded, which may explain the amount of power the students wield.

 

The NUSS representation process begins in the classroom where students elect one among them for executive office. In Damascus University, for example, there are 30 representatives. These representatives then come together to elect a university representative. Then out of all the university representatives, including one for all Syrians studying abroad, the president of NUSS is elected. The president is given a seat in parliament and has much power in defending student’s rights for higher education.

 

Zaki went on to address the mandatory two-year military term each Syrian must serve upon graduation.

 

“We are convinced that the draft is a necessity, but we hope to reduce the amount of time.”

 

He added that this goal awaits the results of the peace process with Israel, which was severely set back by the Gaza Strip attack.

 

Another student rights issue that NUSS works on is acceptance rates.

 

“For example, a dean would say he can only take so many, and we would disagree.”

 

This is an especially big deal for Syrians as acceptance means education at a low cost of $10 a semester. Acceptance is based solely upon test scores from an SAT-like high school exam. Those who are rejected have an option to apply on the parallel track, but must pay several thousand dollars worth of tuition each semester.

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