Latakia – Linda Ali

The traditional hospitality rituals were absent after the announcement of secondary school exam results for the 2024 cycle. Families of the successful students used to boast about their hospitality, which usually increases in quantity and quality according to the grades and excellence.

During a tour of the shops in Latakia, including regular, medium, and high-priced candy shops, the price of a kilogram of chocolate ranged between 60,000 Syrian pounds (USD 4) and 400,000 pounds (USD 26.6).

The price of a kilogram of candies ranged between 30,000 pounds (USD 2) and 200,000 pounds (USD 13.3), and a kilogram of coated candies ranged between 40,000 pounds (USD 2.6) and 225,000 pounds (USD 15).

As for petit fours, the price per kilogram ranged between 50,000 pounds (USD 3.3) and 175,000 pounds (USD 11.6), depending on its content and the type of butter and additional nuts.

The price of a kilogram of Havana cake, a type of cake known in the city, ranged between 40,000 pounds (USD 2.6) and 75,000 pounds (USD 5).

These prices are high compared to the economic and living conditions, where the minimum wage for government employees in the areas controlled by the Syrian regime is 279,000 Syrian pounds (USD 18.6).

Special budget for hospitality

Nisreen, who lives in the city of Jableh, had to buy half a kilogram of chocolate and two kilograms of low-priced candies, out of embarrassment from her congratulating visitors for her son’s success in the secondary school exams.

The 42-year-old woman said she economized on buying, unlike the usual customs upon success, because buying petit fours, juice, fruits, and coffee (the last stage of hospitality) would cost her a lot, incompatible with her government salary.

Faten, 45, decided to buy special hospitality boxes, each costing 15,000 Syrian pounds (USD 1), containing a piece of chocolate, two candies, a medium-priced piece of Syrian delight, and two coated candies.

The woman, celebrating her son’s success in secondary school, allocated a special budget for buying hospitality boxes, saying, “If my husband wasn’t an expatriate, I wouldn’t have been able to buy them.” She indicated that social customs imposed this type of hospitality on her; otherwise, she would have chosen to put the chocolates on hospitality plates only.

She also opted for watermelon and cantaloupe, as they are the cheapest fruits in the summer and are well-liked.

In one of the popular candy and chocolate shops on al-Quwatli Street in Latakia, a lady was asking the seller to weigh a kilogram of mixed candies, ensuring that the price does not exceed 75,000 pounds. She told the seller that she wanted to make her daughter happy but could not afford to spend more than this amount.

Waiting for supplementary exams

Several families of successful students are awaiting the supplementary exams, as is the case of Umm Khaled (47 years), who is waiting for her son to improve his marks as his scores in physics and mathematics were low.

The woman said the result was a disaster. Her son achieved nearly perfect marks in all subjects, but could only manage a passing grade in physics and mathematics. Thus, she will not incur hospitality costs unless he gets good enough results to enter at least one branch of the engineering college after losing hope in medical school.

Celebrating success with hospitality is a tradition that families of successful students try to maintain, but many fail to do so due to low wages and skyrocketing prices.

On July 7, the Ministry of Education of the regime government announced the results of the general secondary certificate exams for the scientific, literary, religious, and vocational branches for the 2024 cycle.

In a press conference, Minister of Education, Mohammad Amer Mardini, mentioned that the success rate in the scientific branch was 57.9%, in the literary branch was 63.72%, in the religious secondary was 49.11%, and in the vocational secondary was 43.92%.

According to the ministry, 12 students achieved full marks in the scientific branch, while five students from the provinces of As-Suwayda, Daraa, Aleppo, and Tartus obtained the highest marks in the literary branch.