Student movement in Swedia: education, exams are rights, away from political disputes

Today, students, teachers, and parents took to the streets in the city of Swedia in a demonstration, calling on the relevant authorities to establish examination centers for basic education and secondary school students within the city. They said such centers would allow students to sit for their exams at locations close to their homes, sparing them the hardship of travel and the risks associated with reaching centers outside the governorate.

Participants stressed that their demands focus on ensuring students’ right to education and examinations under safe conditions. They called on humanitarian and human rights organizations to support their demands and intervene to help secure examination centers inside the city.

The students emphasized that their movement is not political in nature, stressing that “students have nothing to do with political conflicts” and that their educational future should remain separate from political disputes. They said the criterion for obtaining a certificate should be academic achievement, not a student’s ability to endure the risks of traveling.

Participating students said that an entire generation had been denied the opportunity to experience normal school life as a result of the circumstances it has faced over the past years. They noted that they had “grown up before their time,” carrying not only their books and notebooks, but also the burdens of their families and their anxieties about the future.

They added that they remain committed to their educational aspirations, stressing that they do not want to abandon their homes or put themselves at risk simply to reach examination halls, and that “an exam paper should test their academic abilities, not force them to take a path that exposes them to fear and danger.”

During the demonstration, participants held up signs bearing slogans including:

“My Home Is Here… My Exam Is Here.”

“It Is Our Right to Take Our Exams… Not to Risk Our Lives.”

“An Entire Generation Is Not a Detail.”

“Swedia Wants a Solution, Not Humiliation.”

“The Students of As-Suwayda Are Not Outside the Education System.”

“Do Not Make Safety the Price of a Certificate.”

“Our Age Won’t Wait.”

“Do Not Put Our Future Under Siege.”

The organizers of the movement confirmed that the demonstration aims to demand the holding of an examination session inside the city of As-Suwayda and the provision of safe conditions for students, away from any political exploitation. They stressed that education is a fundamental right and that students should not be made to pay the price of the prevailing security and political circumstances.

Repeated demands and an unresolved problem

The demonstration comes in the context of a series of student and educational protests that have taken place in As-Suwayda over the past several months, in opposition to the relocation of public examination centers outside the governorate.

In May, ANHA's agency documented demonstrations and sit-ins by students, residents, and teachers calling for examinations to be held inside Swedia. It noted that the decision to relocate the centers to Damascus and its countryside placed security, financial, and logistical burdens on students and their families.

In June, sit-ins continued under the slogan “It Is Our Right to Learn,” accompanied by calls for an exceptional examination session to be held within the governorate, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and with the participation of international organizations, in order to guarantee students a fair opportunity to continue their education.

The demands were renewed in August following the issuance of Decree No. 163 of 2026, which granted students who were unable to sit for the 2026 examinations an exceptional examination session. However, the continued requirement to take examinations outside the city prompted renewed opposition.

ANHA