In major administrative crises, success isn't measured by the volume of outgoing correspondence or the number of electronic links launched, but by one tangible result: Has the problem been resolved? In the case of Syrian students studying abroad, the answer has been a shocking and persistent one for two years: "No."
While Syrian students abroad face the specter of debt and academic setbacks due to the interruption of their stipends, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research seems to be adopting an administrative approach that observers describe as a "vicious cycle," where time is wasted on formalities that keep the file in a state of "illusory activity" without any real progress.
The Administrative Vortex: Data Recycling
Last November, students were optimistic when the Ministry requested detailed lists from universities, including names, national identification numbers, and remaining study periods. The request was indeed completed, and the data was submitted.
However, the surprise came when the same request was repeated three months later, in a similar format, as if the previous data had vanished or was insufficient to make a decision. This repetition is not seen as a routine procedure, but rather as a tool for stalling; every month that passes without a decision is an additional month of psychological and financial pressure on the delegate, while the administrative body bears no cost for this delay.
Electronic Links: A Technological Facade for Outdated Bureaucracy
The recent launch of the "electronic link" appeared to be a digital update, but it raised fundamental questions about its usefulness:
Why is the delegate required to enter data already existing in the files of the ministry and universities?
Has the link become a means of misleading stakeholders into believing that "work is underway," while the reality is simply a postponement of entitlements?
Mixing Categories: Rights Lost in a Single Basket
The greatest danger in the current official approach lies in obfuscating the issue by conflating disparate categories of scholarship recipients:
- Scholarship recipients currently employed (whose salaries were suddenly cut off).
- Scholarship recipients whose scholarship periods expired years ago.
- Scholarship recipients who have already received all their entitlements.
This confusion in official discourse creates a blurred picture of the problem, causing the most affected group (current researchers) to be lost amidst outdated files or legal issues unrelated to them, inevitably hindering any emergency solutions.
Top Teaching Assistants: The Elite Adrift
The bitterness intensifies when discussing top teaching assistants. These individuals, who excelled at their national universities to form the core of Syria's academic future, now find themselves in an administrative context that treats them as mere "numbers" in repetitive data sheets, instead of recognizing them as a top national priority deserving of protection and support.
Zaman Al Wasl
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