464,000 students enter the exam. Al-Hijri militants besiege the students of Sweida
The exams for the basic and preparatory Sharia education certificates for the 2026 session began on Thursday in various Syrian governorates, amid intensive government field follow-up and integrated organizational, security and health measures aimed at ensuring the smooth conduct of the exam process and providing a safe and stable environment for applicants.
Data from the Ministry of Education showed that the total number of applicants for the Basic Education Certificate exams reached 450,884 students, in addition to 13,141 students in the Sharia Preparatory Certificate, who were distributed to 2,053 equipped exam centers throughout the country in accordance with the approved organizational plan.
Ministerial Field Follow-up
The Ministry of Education intensified its field follow-up with the start of the first day of the exams, where the Minister of Education, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Rahman Turko, conducted an inspection tour that included a number of exam centers in the cities of Zamalka, Saqba and Hamouria in Eastern Ghouta in the Damascus countryside, to review the reality of work and identify the field needs.
The ministerial delegation was briefed on the level of general discipline within the exam halls, and the mechanisms for distributing question envelopes and their arrival on time, and the minister also listened to the students' opinions on the nature of the questions, their clarity and their appropriateness for the time allocated for answering, stressing the importance of providing the appropriate psychological atmosphere for students, and the strict application of regulations and instructions to ensure justice and equal opportunities among all applicants.
Security and health readiness and quality initiatives
The Ministry of Education stated that the exam questions were transferred to the accredited centers under direct educational supervision and in line with tight security measures implemented by the units of the Ministry of Interior to ensure the safety and preservation of the exam process, in conjunction with the deployment of the Syrian Civil Defense teams of the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, and in coordination with the Ministries of Education and Health and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent teams to provide immediate health and emergency support when needed.
The Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, opened fully equipped exam halls inside the central prisons of Adra, Homs and Deir Ezzor, to enable inmates and detainees to take exams and complete their educational journey, in a step that reflects the reform and rehabilitation dimension of government institutions, while the city of Al-Shaddadi in Al-Hasakah province witnessed the start of exams for the first time in thirteen years, in a prominent milestone that reflects the return of stability and the educational process to the region after years of interruption.
Groups hinder Sweida students' access to exams
In Sweida, the actions of armed groups affiliated with Sheikh Al-Hijri after blocking the Suwayda-Damascus road prevented a number of students from reaching the buses, which were equipped to transport them to the exam centers, which raised widespread fears among families and community events about the reflection of these practices on the educational future of their children, at a time when the competent authorities continued their preparations to receive them and secure the necessary logistical supplies.
Local sources in the governorate reported that the practices of the armed men affiliated with Hikmat Al-Hijri were not limited to preventing students from reaching the buses designated to transport them to the exam centers, but also extended to the educational cadres in charge of supervising the exams, as the checkpoints of Shahba and um Al-Zaytoun disembarked dozens of teachers officially assigned to monitor the exams of Sweida students in the approved exam centers in the Damascus countryside, and prevented them from following their way.
The sources pointed out that these measures hindered the access of educational cadres to their workplaces despite the issuance of official mandates to them, at a time when government and educational agencies continue to take various measures to ensure the progress of the exam process and enable students to exercise their right to apply for public exams
It highlighted the practices of disabled practices by armed groups affiliated with Hikmat al-Hijri in Suwayda governorate, which constituted a direct obstacle to students' access to their accredited examination centers in Damascus and its countryside, after preventing them from leaving the governorate and obstructing their access to buses.
The dimensions of this logistical file are due to the decision of the Ministry of Education to allocate alternative exam centers and provide free transportation for thousands of students from Sweida, after the armed factions in the province refused to enter the ministerial delegation in charge of following up and monitoring the exams.
Despite the governorate's full sponsorship of the transportation of students at its own expense, and the announcement by the governor of Mustafa al-Bakour to coordinate with the internal security leaders to conduct permanent patrols and provide shelter and food for those wishing to reside in Damascus in cooperation with international organizations, the checkpoints of the militants in Shahba and um al-Zaytoun blocked the road with earthen berms and prevented the arrival of students.