Syria excludes women from some university courses

A Syrian government decision excluding women from some university courses has drawn criticism, with opponents saying the restrictions add new obstacles for women under the country's Islamist authorities.

The higher education ministry, announcing university enrolments last month, said female students would not be admitted to most disciplines in two institutes created this year by the new authorities.

At Damascus's National University for Defence Sciences, subjects reserved for men include economic management and legal and social sciences. At the Syrian University for Security Sciences, also in Damascus, women can only be admitted to the cyber-security department.

All areas of study remain open to women at Damascus University, the country's largest higher education institution.

In Idlib province in northwest Syria, women will not be admitted into a television and radio production course. In Rmeilan in the northeast, women are no longer to be admitted to an oil and gas institute.

Teacher Ahlam Othman called the restrictions discriminatory and “an added obstacle for women in Syria”. University applicant Israa Salloum said the restrictions were outside her field of study but that “nobody has the right to force me to choose a particular discipline or exclude me from another”.

The authorities headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa came to power after a 14-year civil war to topple Bashar al-Assad's government. Their rise has raised concerns about the influence of conservative religious movements and changes in social rules, including more conservative dress codes for some beaches and restrictions on alcohol sales.