Over 3,000 students apply for university admission in northeast Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – More than 3,000 students have so far applied for admission to universities in areas held by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), Khalil Ali, Co-Chair of the AANES Universities Council, said on Wednesday.
Ali told North Press that the number of registered students is expected to rise to around 4,000 by the end of the registration period, which runs until Sep. 25.
He noted that this year the AANES expanded registration centers to ease student access and reduce travel burdens. New centers were opened in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, at Kobani University, al-Sharq University in Raqqa, and in Hasakah and Rmelan. Additional centers operate under the University of Rojava in Qamishli.
Ali also confirmed that students who completed the Syrian government curriculum are permitted to apply for admission at AANES universities, even before receiving their official certificates.
The AANES currently oversees four universities: Rojava University in Qamishli, founded in 2016; Kobani University, established in 2017; al-Sharq University in Raqqa, opened in 2020; and Afrin University, which was opened in 2015 but has suspended classes since 2018 after Turkish-backed opposition factions seized the Afrin region.
These institutions were created to provide higher education alternatives for students in the northeast, where access to state-run universities has long been limited by political and security restrictions.
Ali stressed that the AANES continues to broaden educational opportunities in the region, despite ongoing political isolation and the lack of international recognition of its academic institutions.