With an extraordinary examination session for basic and secondary education certificate students in Suwayda (southern Syria) set to begin on August 29, community and school initiatives have begun arranging transportation for students to examination centers in the governorate’s northern countryside. The efforts aim to overcome difficulties reaching the centers amid growing controversy over the roads leading to them.
At Issam Harb Secondary School, transportation to the examination centers has been arranged, and students were asked to contact teachers through WhatsApp groups to determine how many intend to take the exams and how many buses will be needed.
At Tawfiq Mazhar Secondary School for Girls, organizers also announced that a bus would be provided for students wishing to take the basic and secondary education certificate exams. Students were asked to arrive at 7:30 a.m. on the day of the exam, and those who wish may be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Similar initiatives have emerged in several towns. In al-Kafr (Suwayda governorate), a charitable association announced transportation for students taking both certificate exams. It set 6 a.m. as the gathering time and 6:30 a.m. for departure, with teachers, representatives of the association, the Education Support Fund, and the municipal council accompanying the students.
Coordination was also carried out with a travel office in al-Qurayya (Suwayda governorate) to transport students, with vehicles expected to reach the entrances of examination centers and return the students after the exams, according to one student.
Statement Prohibits Student Transport
These initiatives come as students face another obstacle in reaching examination centers following a statement issued on August 26 by the Shahba Operations Room.
The room, which is affiliated with the National Guard, announced in the statement that it opposed sending students to government-controlled areas and called for roads to be closed to vehicles designated to transport students toward those areas.
The statement warned drivers and transport operators against attempting to carry any student, threatening to impound vehicles that violate the decision. It justified the measure as necessary to ensure equality among students and their right to take exams in a safe environment close to their homes.
Parents’ Delegation Discusses Repercussions
Following the statement, a delegation of students’ parents met Judge Shadi Fayez Murshid on August 27 to discuss the repercussions of the Shahba Operations Room’s statement and its impact on the students’ situation.
The delegation said in a statement that preventing student transportation could shift the issue from a rights-based matter concerning students’ right to sit for their exams into an issue that the Syrian government could benefit from, according to the statement.
It also pointed to the possibility that the decision could affect the positions of UN organizations following the issue, as well as concerns that it could create internal divisions within the community and entrench the influence of weapons over matters concerning civilians.
According to the delegation, Murshid reaffirmed his position that the decision on whether to take the exams should be left exclusively to students and their families. He said the statement had been issued by the Shahba Operations Room without consulting the administration and that he was working to address the matter.
The delegation then went to the leadership of the National Guard, where it met two of its commanders and asked them to clarify the group’s position on the statement issued by the Shahba Operations Room.
According to the delegation, the two commanders said the statement did not represent the National Guard and described its issuance as a condemned individual action that did not reflect the leadership’s position.
Operations Room Says Roads Will Remain Closed
On the evening of August 28, a new statement issued in the name of the Shahba Operations Room categorically denied the authenticity of another statement circulating under the name of dignitaries from Shahba (Suwayda governorate), which said students and exam supervisors would be allowed to pass through closed roads to reach examination centers.
The operations room said the circulated statement “has no connection to it” and does not reflect its position or decision. It said publishing false statements could provoke discord and sow divisions among the people of the mountain.
According to the new statement, the roads remain closed to students and exam supervisors, and no decision has been made to allow them to pass. The operations room also called for accuracy and urged people not to circulate news or statements that have not been officially issued by the relevant authorities.
The clarification leaves the transportation initiatives announced by schools and towns facing a more complicated reality. The problem is no longer limited to securing buses, but also whether those buses will be able to reach the examination centers at all.
27 Examination Centers
The Ministry of Education issued lists showing the distribution of basic and secondary education certificate students among examination centers in the northern countryside of Suwayda.
Students were assigned to 27 examination centers. Each student can identify their designated center, examination room, and seat through the link published by the ministry.
The ministry also said examination cards would be available at the centers and called on students to arrive half an hour before their scheduled exam time.
The examination centers are not limited to schools. The list includes other locations prepared to host the examination process, including a carpet factory, a health clinic, a municipal building, a wedding hall, and a rest house.
As schools and towns prepare transportation for students, reaching the examination centers remains the main challenge, with roads still closed according to the Shahba Operations Room’s statement.