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Worlds of Education: Nesrin, it is a pleasure to sit down with you for this interview on your first visit to the Education International head office in Brussels. Please introduce yourself to our readers.

Thank you very much for your work and the warm welcome. Thanks to EI, I have the opportunity to be here with you today. My name is Nesrin Reshk and I am from the city of Al-Hasakah in Syria. I am a member of the Union of Teachers in Northeast Syria and since 2023 I have been working in the international relations office of the union.

Our union was founded in 2013 and was the first education organisation to emerge from the revolution. Our initial goal as a union was to organise teachers. We now organise 40,000 teachers out of a total of 45,000 across 5,000 schools in our region in the northeast of the country.

Worlds of Education: After 15 years of war, what is the situation of teachers and students in Northeast Syria?

We have 5,000 schools across northeastern Syria. 150 of them were completely destroyed in the war, whether by ISIS or the Turkish state. They were targeted and bombed.

Currently, we have 900,000 students enrolled in the schools of the Autonomous Administration. Due to the war and the changing conditions in the region, the situation for students and teachers can be described as good but unstable.

Displacement is a serious issue. To give you a bit of context, after the fall of the Ba'athist regime on December 8 last year, many areas were occupied and residents and students fled to our region. This is why we are currently facing many challenges in displacement camps. There are difficulties in maintaining the educational process and challenges around the psychological trauma both students and teachers have experienced.

Worlds of Education: What would you like your international colleagues to know about education and about teachers in northeast Syria?

In both local and international media there isn't much attention on us. Our union follows a democratic model and the greatest example of this is our work to ensure mother tongue teaching and learning. This is a legitimate and fundamental right based on international human rights principles.

The previous curriculum was the official Syrian state curriculum of the Ba'athist system, which always glorified Ba'athist victories, Ba'athist ideology, and its leadership. After the revolution, we decided to change the curriculum. We now have three core curricula taught in the mother tongue - Arabic, Kurdish, and Syriac. These are the native languages of the communities in northeast Syria. The Ba'athist curriculum was replaced with these new ones because they serve the people and reflect the true makeup of society in our region, away from the politics.

Through our work with EI and other international organisations, we hope that the world will see and support this democratic model which we believe is the key to solving all of Syrian's problems – breaking free from radicalism and racism, from a single language and the Arabisation policies that were imposed across the country.

Our hope is that our international and local colleagues will highlight northeast Syria with its educational system and local administration as an example on which we can build a united, democratic, and peaceful Syria.

Worlds of Education: In addition to the war, Syria also experienced a devastating earthquake in 2023. What did international solidarity mean to you as a teacher and unionist in the wake of this disaster?

When the earthquake happened, we were visiting Germany, attending the Education and Science Union (GEW) Conference. Many people we met there showed their solidarity and support for those affected by this tragedy in Syria.

Beyond that, we could not help but notice a great difference between the support for Turkey, also affected by the earthquake, and Syria. People from all over the world went to Turkey and stood with the victims there but northeast Syria had very little support. It seemed that no one wanted to help us.

A few organisations operating on the ground offered timid initiatives in response to the disaster but they were very limited.

But some organisations did help us, including Education International. Your support had a great impact on the people of northeast Syria as a whole, not just on teachers. This is because teachers also showed great solidarity and they forgot their own disaster honestly. EI stood with us and supported us through that crisis and we stood with our communities.

Worlds of Education: Today your union represents 40,000 members. What are the needs of your members and what are the top priorities for your union?

We have three main priorities. The most important is securing peace so that our region is safe and stable and we can continue our journey to achieve our vision for education.

Another essential priority is to unify the curricula across all of Syria . We want to expand our way of working, our democratic approach across the entire country because we believe our curricula and local administration models are the solution to our problems as a country and can help put an end to racism and sectarianism. We also need to reopen our schools and get students and teachers back into classrooms. We aim to ensure safe and sustainable education for all students and teachers.

Third, we need to improve the skills and capacity of our teachers both professionally and in their union roles through training courses and specialised vocational academies. Improving the financial situation of teachers and improving their living conditions is critical in the current context of economic hardship.

Worlds of Education: Following the fall of the Assad regime, a transitional government has come to power. What is the relationship between your union and this new government?

We were among the first organisations to reach out to the new Syrian government through the Ministry of Education. We always work to bring education to the top of the political agenda. We brought up the need to unify the curriculum across the country, the need to ensure education in people’s mother tongue because language is a fundamental and democratic demand that we believe in. Gender equality must also be a cornerstone of education and we made this clear in our conversations with the Government. These issues have been discussed and we consider them central to our work moving forward.

Worlds of Education: As a union, what is your vision for the future of Syria?

Our primary goal is to build democracy through education and unionism. The mother tongue curricula that we developed and that we are promoting is built on democratic values. We are also working to organise teachers in a democratic union that serves as an example and that raises awareness of the importance of democratic principles in our country.

The fundamental demand of the Syrian people who have suffered greatly from the horrors of war is to see a Syria that is open, democratic, rich in traditions and cultures. We want to return to the Syria that was once a beacon to the world.

Worlds of Education: How can Education International and your colleagues around the world support you in achieving this vision?

We hope that our colleagues at all levels - international, national, local – help to shine a spotlight on northeast Syria and the model we have been developing.

For nearly 15 years, our region has benefitted from a system of governance managed through an autonomous local administration. Our education system is democratic and inclusive, with a multilingual, mother tongue teaching and learning model and with gender equality at its core.

Through news media, television, and social media, our colleagues can help highlight our region and our model so that it expands to the entire country and becomes the blueprint for a free, open, and democratic Syria for all its citizens.

Worlds of Education: On a personal note, as a young union leader and as a teacher, you've had opportunities to leave the country and to secure your future somewhere else. What is keeping you and your 40,000 fellow teachers and union members in Syria despite all the challenges and hardships?

You've touched on a really significant and meaningful point that matters a lot to us. I and many of my colleagues have had opportunities to leave the country and start over elsewhere. But the pain of our homeland has always been at the front of our minds and in our hearts. We couldn't leave our country at a time when we could still offer it so much more.

I'd like to mention that the majority of our members are young. We are a youth generation that is capable of carrying the weight of the union and of society. As a union, we feel that it is our duty to organise our society, to rebuild our country along democratic values. We believe in democracy and no matter how much work it takes, we will spare no effort so that democracy and freedom prevail in the new Syria.