A         ASSYRIAN  UNIVERSAL  ALLIANCE   AMERICAS  CHAPTER     10TH  SESSION  FORUM  ON  MINORITY  ISSUES   AGENDA  ITEM  2:  INCLUSIVE  EDUCATION         30  November  2017   Delivered  by  Iyala  Saadi   Co-­‐Leader  of  youth  Committee     Assyrian  Democratic  Organization     Thank  you,     As  a  result  of  more  than  50  years  of  exclusionary  educational  curriculums  in  Syria,  a  whole  generation  of   youth  has  been  feeling  cultural  marginalization  and  deprivation.     The  Syrian  government,  by  not  recognizing  the  existence  nor  the  rights  of  indigenous  people  in  the  Syrian   constitution,  imposed  “Arabization”  and  ethnic  assimilation  policies  onto  its  minorities  of    which  the  most   dangerous  was  the  policy  of  assimilation  in  education.       This  was  done  by:     1.   Politicizing   courses   by   emphasizing   only   the   history   and   importance   of   Arabs,   ignoring   entirely  the  role  of  non-­‐Arabs  (such  as  Assyrians)  in  building  Syria,  and     2.  The  Ba’ath  Party’s  oppressive  ideology  in  public  education  and     3.   Prohibiting   the   teaching   of   non-­‐Arabic   languages   in   public   schools.   As   a   Syrian   of   Assyrian   descent,   I   was   one   of   millions   of   students   who   suffered   from   these   practices   from   my   elementary  education  until  my  graduation  from  Law  School  in  Aleppo.       Today  at  the  same  time,  in  the  province  of  Al  Hassaka,  we  face  another  ideological  education  curriculum   imposed   by   the   de   facto   administration   of   the   so-­‐called   “Democratic   Self   Administration”,   led   by   the   “Democratic  Union  Party”,  otherwise  known  as  the  Kurdish  PYD.  This  exclusionary  curriculum,  imposed  in   2015,   segregates   the   students   based   on   their   ethnic   background   in   separate   classrooms   claiming   to   teach   a   curriculum   to   each   group   in   their   own   respective   language.   This   is   contrary   to   the   original   desires   of   parents   to   teach   children   their   mother-­‐tongue   in   schools   in   an   inclusive   way,   one   which   is   respectful   of   other  ethnic  groups,  yet  is  still  deferential  to  a  larger  Syrian  identity.     This   specific   policy   creates   dangerous   ethnic   division   in   the   youth   and   contradicts   the   1960   UNESCO   Convention,  which  protects  against  discrimination  in  education.     Therefore,   building   on   the   recommendation   of   the   Forum   of   Minority   Issues   of   2008,   Sections   2   and   3,   recommendations   10   and   27,   we   as   youth   recommend   UNESCO   to   strengthen   its   supervision;   on   the   education  systems  of  the  Syrian  government  and  the  de  facto  administrations  in  order  to  pressure  them   to:       First:  Eliminate  the  politicized  and  ideological  education  curriculum   Second:   Recognize   the   Assyrian   people   as   an   indigenous   people   in   Syria   alongside   the   other   diverse  ethnic  and  religious  groups  in  the  constitution  and  in  educational  curriculums.     Third:  Adding  mandatory  courses  in  Human  Rights  to  promote  equality  and  tolerance.             ASSYRIAN  UNIVERSAL  ALLIANCE     IN  CONSULTATIVE  STATUS  WITH  THE  UNITED  NATIONS  SINCE  2013   AN  ORGANIZATION   INFO@AUA.NET