Damascus, SANA – Activities of the Central Council of Arab Teachers Federation kicked off at Damascus-based Opera House on Sunday.

Delegations from Libya, Iraq, Tunisia, Palestine, Yemen, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon and Sudan are taking part in the four-day conference.

In a speech, member of the Regional Leadership of al-Baath Arab Socialist Party Arkan al-Shoufi said holding the Council’s meetings in Damascus in conjunction with the celebration of the Arab Teacher’s Day comes to express solidarity with Syria against the war waged on it and to confirm that the Arabs are in one trench in confronting the American-Zionist terrorist project that has ravaged the region and is aimed at destroying its national and pan-Arab identity.

In turn, Higher Education Minister Atef Naddaf stressed that Syria’s teachers have stood their ground firmly in the face of the extremists’ attempts to “extinguish the light of knowledge and bring Syria back to the ages of backwardness and ignorance through the destruction of university and school buildings, affirming that teachers have continued their work at schools and universities along with students in defiance of the challenges.

He pointed out that opening new schools, universities and colleges and creating more scientific specilizations in Syria during the crisis has sent a message to the whole world that Damascus will remain as it has always been throughout history “a platform of knowledge”, noting that around 700,000 students are currently studying at the Syrian university free of charge.

Secretary General of the Arab Teachers Federation Hisham Makhal said all teachers in the Arab countries should work to the interest of defending the identity of the Arab nation, extending a salute to the Syrian Teachers’ Syndicate for its special national and pan-Arab role in the building of the man and the homeland.

The conference will discuss literary, political and financial reports and the need to attract Arab countries that are outside the Federation to support alongside the Arab organizations to mobilize the Arab capabilities to achieve Arab unity and construct a pan-Arab project that would serve in regaining the Arabs’ rights and liberating the occupied Arab territories.

M. al-Frieh/H. Said