RT4 Challenges Facing the Emerging University Sector in northwest Syria

Run in Istanbul, RT4 brought together the rectors and vice rectors of the two leading universities in northwest Syria, i.e. Free Aleppo University, a public university established in 2015 by a breakaway group of Aleppo University faculty under the auspices of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), and Sham University, a privately-funded university, operating since 2016, with Syrian and UK academic colleagues allied to the SP, to review and prioritise the challenges facing HEIs in North West Syria. It led to five Cara-commissioned pieces of research on the following prioritised challenges: i. Gender in HE; ii. Professional development; iii. Student record systems (in the context of student mobility); iv. Student skills gaps at the time of university registration; and v. Quality management & assurance models in fragile contexts.