Syrian curriculum changes spark debate over removal of images and historical figures

By&nbspAli Hasan&nbsp&&nbspيورونيوز Published on - GMT+1 Changes were not limited to the texts; images and illustrations were also edited in Photoshop, adding hijabs or long robes to female figures, deleting women's photos, and covering or replacing statues, sculptures and artworks. A set of changes made to a number of school textbooks in Syria has sparked a wave of criticism and reactions on social media, after they included alterations to pictures and artworks, among them adding the hijab to drawn female figures, removing images of women and children, covering statues and replacing paintings and works of art. The revisions have also affected teaching content dealing with political life, citizenship, democratic participation, local administration and the media. These changes have reopened the debate over the standards used , and how far they take into account Syria's social and cultural diversity, amid questions about the nature and aims of the amendments, and whether they fall simply within a review of content linked to the former regime or go further towards reshaping how society is represented in school books. Changes to images, illustrations and educational content Comparisons posted on social media between different editions of school textbooks show amendments to material for several grades, including the early years and seventh grade, as well as the sixth-grade primary textbook "Social Studies". It emerges that this last book, reissued for the current academic year, originally dates back to the 2012–2013 school year, with changes added that include the removal of material linked to the former regime, alongside lessons on local administration, political life, citizenship, the media and democratic participation. The changes were not limited to texts; they also extended to images and illustrations using Photoshop. Hijabs were added – and in some cases long robes – to drawn female characters, entire pictures of women were deleted, statues were covered, and sculptures and artworks were removed or replaced with others. The visual alterations to paintings and expressive illustrations became a main focus of controversy, after committees removed the world-famous painting "Mona Lisa" and deleted a drawing showing a girl skipping rope beside two children in textbooks for early age groups. The revisions also extended to historical figures and symbols. The Phoenician princess Elissar, founder of Carthage, was affected when a painting depicting her on a hunting trip was dropped and replaced with another portrait that had been digitally modified to cover the chin and neck – a step critics saw as imposing contemporary ideological standards on an ancient historical era.