Thousands of students returning to Afrin are out of exams

Following the return of seven groups of displaced people from the city of Afrin, totaling approximately 5,400 families according to ANHA agency's monitoring, the fate of returning students remains uncertain, coinciding with the start of middle and high school exams across Syria.

On Thursday, June 4th, the basic education certificate (middle school) exams began, and on Saturday, June 6th, the high school certificate exams commenced throughout Syria, as announced by the Ministry of Education of the Syrian Interim Government.

In Afrin, 2,550 students are taking the basic education certificate exams at 18 examination centers distributed throughout the city and its surrounding towns. In Aleppo Governorate, the total number of students taking the basic education certificate exams reached 77,077, distributed across 323 centers. The number of students sitting for the high school certificate exams reached 62,000.

Simultaneously, the basic and high school certificate exams, based on the curriculum of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, began in Hasaka Governorate and the Kobani region.

However, students who studied in schools run by the Autonomous Administration were unable to take the exams due to unresolved issues surrounding their return from Hasaka and Kobani to the Afrin region.

While there are no precise statistics on the number of students who returned without the opportunity to complete their studies, local sources confirm that thousands are awaiting justice.

In the absence of clear government mechanisms, students returning from the Autonomous Administration areas to Afrin face an uncertain educational future, as no measures have yet been taken to ensure they can complete their studies or have their certificates recognized.

The commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, stated in an interview with ANHA agency: “During our recent meetings in Damascus, we reached a preliminary agreement that newly returned students will be able to take the exams. Students who studied the Autonomous administration curriculum and returned to Afrin will not be prevented from taking the exams, and their certificates will be accepted, just as the certificates of students from Jazera and Kobani will be accepted. This requires preparations from the Ministry, and discussions and arrangements are still ongoing.”

In a phone call with ANHAagency, a high school student who had studied under the Autonomous administration curriculum and recently returned to Afrin, preferred to remain anonymous. He explained that he had not found any official announcement allowing him and other returning students to take the exams, which had already begun, or granting them an extension to register. This effectively prevented them from participating in the examination process.

He added that the curriculum he was taught under differs, to varying degrees, from the curriculum adopted by the interim government, raising serious concerns about these students' chances of success. He pointed out that even if they were allowed to take the exams, the lack of a clear mechanism to reconcile the differences between the curricula or to take them into account when preparing the questions could lead to a large number of them failing.

He also confirmed that many were forced to travel to the cities of Hasaka, Qamishlo, and Kobani to participate in the exams according to the Autonomous Administration's curriculum, given the absence of a unified educational framework and an agreed-upon mechanism between the Autonomous Administration and the government to address the situation of returning students and enable them to continue their education in the Afrin region.

The Director of Education in Hasaka, Adnan Berri, explained in an interview with ANHA agency that the integration of the education sector is in its final administrative stages, while issues related to the educational and teaching process are still under discussion, particularly those concerning the development of a unified national curriculum.

Sh-S

ANHA