Damascus turns ire on American school

Damascus: Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otari's order to close down an American school and cultural centre in the wake of Sunday's US attack that killed eight people has been received with mixed feelings.

"I withdrew my children [from the school] a long time ago, I don't care what happens to that school," Leena, a 42-year-old Damascus resident, told Gulf News.

There were some, however, who felt that the "rash" decision would jeopardise the education of students by forcing them to switch schools in the middle of the academic year.

"What do I do with my children? It's difficult to relocate to Lebanon or Jordan in the middle of the year. They should have expelled the ambassador instead," said one aggrieved father-of-three.

Since relations plummeted between Syria and the United States, the Ministry of Higher Education has been giving Syrian students studying at foreign schools a hard time, particularly the US Damascus Community School (DCS).

"The ministry won't let us transfer our children to another foreign school. They are saying that they must study at an Arabic-speaking school. My children cannot read or write proper classical Arabic, so I have no choice but to move them to another country," said a single mother of two.

The Damascus Community School was founded in 1956, and currently has 385 students. When Syrian-US relations plumbed new lows in 2005, Syrians began toying with the idea of closing down DCS.

"The decision to close it down does not surprise anyone," said Omar a former alumnus of DCS.