In an effort to bring education to the most remote corners of Syria, and to allow those in rural areas who cannot leave their families behind, the Syrian Ministry of Education started the Syrian Virtual University in 2002, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).  SVU offers various degrees, including a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology.

Though, admittedly, SVU degrees may not be as highly esteemed as traditional degrees, they are certified by Edexel and other many universities have recognized their validity.  For example, the University of Greenwich awards SVU graduates with Honors Degrees from their own university.  These partnerships are crucial in order for the SVU alumni to qualify for international jobs and bring economic growth and investment back to Syria’s economy.

Other nations have followed Syria’s example; Tunisia, Libya and Egypt’s ministries of Education have established distance-based learning options for their citizens.  In summary, hundreds of thousands of citizens have enrolled in courses and received diplomas.

The question to be answered is to what extent does increased educational achievement through virtual universities bring increased human development to these nations?  The citizens are more educated, more connected to the global landscape, and less ignorant.  Perhaps, their increased literacy and knowledge capacity was in part a leading cause in the Arab spring uprisings.  Or, at the very least, the increased educational achievement ushered in heightened political awareness to the region.

What isn’t clear, though, is whether these virtual universities have led to any increase in economic growth or life expectancy.  Difficult laws to start businesses, or government corruption and bureaucracies to open organization, slows entrepreneurship and business uptake in the region, making economic growth much more difficult.  I can’t help but wonder how many citizens the Syrian government educated only to lose their increased human capital to foreign businesses, since the job market is too scarce within Syria.  In order to these nations to capitalize on their investments in virtual education, they will have to ease business restrictions on startups, allow for more tolerance for failed businesses, and subsidize the expenditures of local business owners.