Syrian school chidlren returned to schhol around a week after the Assad regime was toppled over a month ago [Getty/file photo]
Over three and a half million Syrian schoolchildren took their first exams on Wednesday since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on 8 December.
The figure was confirmed by the Syrian interim government’s education minister, Nazir al-Qadri, the official news agency SANA said on Wednesday.
The number of students was spread across around 11,000 schools at various educational levels in all governorates, he said.
The news agency published official photos of schoolchildren taking the transitional exams for the first semester in the capital Damascus, and said that the exams will end on January 23.
Al-Qadri met with representatives of international and local organisations on Tuesday to discuss the reality of education in the country, as it attempts to rebuild the system, as well as other sectors in the country after the ouster of the Assad regime in December.
During the meeting, future plans for school assessment tours were discussed, as well as the concept of a joint strategy to rebuild schools and support students and teachers, SANA said.
Ministry officials, along with representatives from international organisations, toured a number of destroyed schools in the northern Hama countryside. The officials said they assessed their condition in a bid to prepare for their reconstruction, as well as the return of children and staff to such schools.
Scores of primary, secondary and university students returned to school in Syria for the first time on December 15 after the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels ordered the reopening of several schools, in a bid to bring a sense of normalcy to the country post-Assad.
Images and videos of students at Damascus University went viral after they were shown stamping on a statue of one of Assad’s father, Hafez, expressing jubilation as they returned to class a week after rebels seized control of the Syrian capital.
Despite the significant exam turnout, around 50 percent of Syrian school-age children remain out of education, the charity Save The Children said in December.
Almost four million children require immediate action to reintegrate them into school, the charity’s Syria director said.
Earlier this month, al-Qadri himself announced that a sweeping reform to the national curriculum would be made. However, this prompted outrage from some Syrians, especially concerning religious studies and history.
The changes included revisions to Syria’s historical connections with polytheistic religions. Details concerning the Ottoman Empire, Assad’s Ba’athist rule and philosophy, among other topics, will be removed or amended, HTS said.
Some Syrians have voiced concern over the implication of such changes for the country’s historic and national identity.
