Rail passenger service in Syria has all but collapsed, dropping by 62 percent between 1991 and 1995. The civil aviation sector in Syria as measured by passenger miles is just slightly larger than in Namibia or Zimbabwe. The level of Syrian education and scientific training resemble those in darkest sub-Sahara Africa. College attendance is extremely low. The entire Syrian university library system has 10,000 books, less than in a Barnes and Nobles branch.
Illiteracy is still widespread .
The comparable illiteracy rate in Zimbabwe is estimated at 15 percent. All the libraries in Syria combined held an estimated 150,000 books as of 1992, about the same number as in my high school library in Philadelphia. In science, Syria has yet to get started. Syrians applied for a total of 55 patents in 1995, about the same as Botswana. Emigration of skilled Syrians and technicians is thought to be considerable, almost as common as the capital flight of Syrians stashing their savings abroad.