Syrian secondary school exams begin, obstacles face Sweida's students

The general secondary school examinations officially started today for both the scientific and literary streams, as well as for Sharia and vocational secondary education, with around 369,000 students participating across Syria.

The interim government stated that candidates are distributed across 1,570 examination centers nationwide.

A total of 368,596 students are sitting for the examinations in all streams, including 215,258 students in the scientific stream, 127,343 in the literary stream, 23,267 in vocational secondary education, and 2,728 students in Sharia secondary education.

In Sweida, students continue to face challenges after the authorities declined to organize examinations within the city, requiring them instead to travel to Damascus and its countryside to sit for their exams.

According to local sources in the city, the vast majority of Sweida's students were unable to reach examination centers in Damascus and its rural areas, effectively depriving them of the opportunity to continue their education this academic year.

The government, meanwhile, said that checkpoints operated by the National Guard obstructed students’ access to examination centers. Other sources reported that many families chose not to send their children to Damascus due to security concerns and difficulties related to travel and accommodation.

Earlier, the United Nations office in Syria noted that ongoing consultations between Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and the interim government regarding the organization of final examinations in Sweida had so far failed to overcome what it described as the “existing challenges.”

A-H 

ANHA