On the UNESCO Institute for Statistics' figures, Syria had 114,676 primary and 65,218 secondary teachers in 2002 and 144,621 and 54,596 in 2024 (primary about a quarter more, secondary about a sixth fewer, my arithmetic); the Institute's series has no Syrian observation for 2003 to 2022; the Central Bureau of Statistics printed 128,903 primary teachers for 2002 and printed basic-education teacher counts for 2003 to 2006 and pupils-per-teacher ratios for 2010 to 2018 [AMENDED 18 OCTOBER 2026 (REVIEW_07 R07-1): "counted" became "printed"; [STRUCK 18 OCTOBER 2026 (D-308 item 1; RETEST_07_09 RT07-1) AND QUOTED: 'the abstracts name the Ministry of Education as the source of their school figures'] the abstracts list the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Culture as the data sources of their education chapter (2011 and 2016 to 2023 editions); from data year 2012 the vocational tables include irrigation, transport, oil and communications schools, and [STRUCK 18 OCTOBER 2026 (FINAL_PASS_REVIEW FP-4) AND QUOTED: 'the 2016 edition footnotes the last as 'Vocational secondary schools of the Ministry of Communications''] the 2016 edition footnotes the communications columns: '** Vocational secondary schools of the Ministry of Communications have been cancelled under resolution No.2 of 2015.' (the Arabic says law: «القانون رقم2 لعام 2015»; TAB10-11.XLS, sheet 'tab10-11 (3)', row 31).]
Claim ID
TEACH-001
Exact or summary claim
On the UNESCO Institute for Statistics' figures, Syria had 114,676 primary and 65,218 secondary teachers in 2002 and 144,621 and 54,596 in 2024 (primary about a quarter more, secondary about a sixth fewer, my arithmetic); the Institute's series has no Syrian observation for 2003 to 2022; the Central Bureau of Statistics printed 128,903 primary teachers for 2002 and printed basic-education teacher counts for 2003 to 2006 and pupils-per-teacher ratios for 2010 to 2018 [AMENDED 18 OCTOBER 2026 (REVIEW_07 R07-1): "counted" became "printed"; [STRUCK 18 OCTOBER 2026 (D-308 item 1; RETEST_07_09 RT07-1) AND QUOTED: 'the abstracts name the Ministry of Education as the source of their school figures'] the abstracts list the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Culture as the data sources of their education chapter (2011 and 2016 to 2023 editions); from data year 2012 the vocational tables include irrigation, transport, oil and communications schools, and [STRUCK 18 OCTOBER 2026 (FINAL_PASS_REVIEW FP-4) AND QUOTED: 'the 2016 edition footnotes the last as 'Vocational secondary schools of the Ministry of Communications''] the 2016 edition footnotes the communications columns: '** Vocational secondary schools of the Ministry of Communications have been cancelled under resolution No.2 of 2015.' (the Arabic says law: «القانون رقم2 لعام 2015»; TAB10-11.XLS, sheet 'tab10-11 (3)', row 31).]
Destination
Chapter 7 l.101 to l.105 (v56); article 7 (draft/articles/teachers_2026-12.md)
Status
CONTESTED
Source
SRC-305; SRC-785; SRC-786; SRC-783
Source type
International statistical series (UIS via World Bank) and national statistical abstracts
Published
2007 to 2026
Accessed
2026-10-18
Measure and scope
Headcounts of teachers by level, national; UIS primary is grades 1 to 6 in 2002 and 2023 to 2024 and grades 1 to 4 in 2003 to 2013; CBS 2002 is primary only, 2003 to 2006 the nine grades of basic education; CBS ratios rounded to whole numbers; CBS vocational and religious counts include administrative staff
Known conflict
For 2002, same year, with pupils for the same six grades (that the teacher counts cover the same grades is an inference, REVIEW_07 R07-5), the Bureau's 128,903 is 12.4 per cent above the Institute's 114,676 (my arithmetic); neither source explains the difference
Downstream
Chapter 7 l.193 (no governorate or establishment figure follows from the Institute's series); CH07-TRAINED-SHARE
Action
Any 2002 count printed is attributed to its publisher. Prose may not say Syria stopped counting its teachers, nor that the headcount is roughly where it was.