Curriculum changes worry Syria’s minority groups

Syria’s education minister on Thursday sought to minimise curriculum changes announced this week by the new government, after activists denounced them as “extremist” and potentially harmful to religious minorities.

The amendments were announced on Wednesday on the Facebook page of the interim leadership’s education ministry, a little under a month since forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The changes include scrapping poetry relating to women and love. The national anthem has also been removed from textbooks, with the ministry describing it as “the (Assad) regime’s anthem”.