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Online Degree, Online Courses and Distance Learning in Syria

About Online Degree, Online Courses and Distance Learning in Syria

Distance education was restricted in Syria until two decades ago. The Ministry of Education paid attention to only traditional forms of higher education until the late 1990s. Later television programs were used to teach computer applications to the students. The establishment of the electronic university in 2002 has opened up ample opportunities for higher education.

In Syria, online degrees and courses are offered by the Syrian Virtual University. The Ministry of Higher Education in Syrian Arab Republic opened the country’s first electronic university in 2002. The university is completely online. It offers virtual education using the internet to students all over the world. The mission of Syrian Virtual University is to help individuals who want to pursue higher education, but are not able to afford it from a traditional university. The university is located at the Ministry of Higher Education in Damascus.

Open learning centers of universities are also allowed to offer online bachelor’s degree in Syria.

Online Degree Programs and Courses in Syria

The virtual university initiative in Syria offers domestic programs as well as partnership programs. Domestic programs are focused mainly in the field of computer science. Recently programs in the subject of Economics have been added. Domestic programs are taught in Arabic, and a few courses are taught in English.

Partnership programs are offered by the virtual university in partnership with accredited universities in foreign countries. These programs are offered in English only. The online programs under this category range from the associate degree to doctorate programs.

4-year online undergraduate programs in Syria are offered by the virtual university. Bachelor of Science in Information System Engineering is a popular program, in which the content is much similar to that of the traditional computer science program. The students who take this program need to take core courses and specialized courses. Multimedia systems, intelligent system, Software application development and operating systems are the core specialization subjects to be learnt. The duration of this undergraduate program is typically five years.

Bachelor of Arts in Law and Economics is also offered online. These programs last for four years and at the end of the fourth year, students who have fulfilled the course requirement are awarded the degree. Post graduate online degrees spanning two years are also offered by distance learning centers in Syria.

Those who want to take online degrees and courses offered by the virtual university are generally required to attend live online lectures for specified hours. They can download the remaining coursework. They need to submit the course work regularly and take mid tem and final exams.

The students who take post graduation programs online in Syria need to prepare a thesis, which must be their original work.
However, the administration in Syria is still unable to meet the growing needs of students who wish to pursue higher education, due to a significant increase in student enrollment and insufficient resources.  This has increased the need for distance education programs. The open learning centers and online university in Syrian Arab Republic serve this purpose, but more efforts are required.