Rural-urban migration and its implications on education: the case of Syria.

The attempt is made to shed some light on the phenomenon of rural-urban migration in Syria in relation to educational developments. The rural-urban migration trends and their implications in the future are described; the impact of this phenomenon on the education system is analyzed; the educational causes of migration are shown; and the role of education in the context of rural-urban changes is detailed. The overall annual growth rate in Syria was equal to 3.3% between 1960 and 1970; the urban rate was 4.6%. The proportion of the urban settlements 36.9% of the total in 1960 has rapidly grown reaching 43.5% in 1970. Concurrently internal migration reshaped the geographical distribution of Syrias population. The relatively slow annual rate in rural areas was due to the exodus to urban settlements. Partly because or rural-urban migration and partly because of unequal levels and trends of development in the different region important interregional migration exists between Syrias 5 large regions. The main stream of migration is directed towards the Southern region where about 104000 migrants primarily from the Central region have settled. Migration affects the educational system through the change of the population structure at both ends of the flow. The uneven growth pattern between urban and rural area affects the school-age population enrollment teacher requirements cost of education and the qualitative aspect of education. The following conclusions have been reached regarding the relation between migration and education in Syria: 1) children of migrants in towns create a pressure on the educational facilities at the areas of destination; 2) the school network by educational level is still built in such a way that students who want to continue their studies must often migrate from their villages; and 3) general education is still dominant in Syria and spreads over all the regions of the country an urban system of values and culture. Education in Syria induces partly rural-urban migration and fails to contribute directly to a greater development of the environment. Education should contribute to the improvement of the situation and some proposals in this direction are identified.