Syria19 August, 20263 min read
Syrian President Ahmad al-Shaer Grants Suwayda Students Exceptional Exam Session Under Decree No. 163
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Decree No. 163 of 2026 grants Suwayda students an exceptional session for certificates. Covers Basic Education and General Secondary certificates in all branches.
7 outlets told this the same way.
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Decree for Suwayda exams
Syrian President Ahmad al-Shaer granted students from Suwayda Governorate an exceptional examination session through Decree No. 163 of 2026 for the Basic Education Certificate and the General Secondary Certificate in all its branches.
The decree covers students who did not take the 2026 session exams or who were unable to take all examination subjects, and it says the exams will be conducted under the same rules and conditions adopted for those certificates’ exams.
The Ministry of Education had previously moved Suwayda students’ exams to centers in Damascus and Rural Damascus, instead of holding them inside the governorate, citing security conditions and a safe and stable examination environment.
ANF said the decree left unclear the place where the exams would be held and the mechanism for selecting the centers, raising questions about whether the decision addresses obstacles that prevented students’ participation in the previous session.
The Merصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان reported that the decree was issued in response to demands to provide an exceptional session after the Suwayda Directorate of Education requested it in June, noting that about 95 percent of students were unable to attend due to obstacles preventing them from reaching examination centers.
Objections, protests, and roadblocks
ANF described objections from students and parents after the Ministry of Education moved exams outside Sweida, saying the change imposed security, financial, and logistical burdens on them. Al-Jazira Net said parents and relatives of students in Suwayda organized a protest on August 10 in front of the Directorate of Education building, demanding an exceptional examination session within the governorate and calling for the Directorate to be isolated from political interference. Al-Jazira Net reported that the plan to transport students to take the exams outside the governorate was thwarted by the closure of the Suwayda–Damascus road at the Um al-Zaytun checkpoint by groups of the National Guard led by Druze sheikh Hakam al-Hajari.
The same Al-Jazira Net account said the closure forced buses to turn back, coinciding with reports of security risks that prevented students from reaching examination centers. Al-Jazira Net also cited earlier data from the Directorate of Education in Suwayda stating that the percentage of applicants for the Basic and Secondary certificates did not exceed 5 percent.
Implementation and stakes for students
Multiple outlets said the decree’s implementation depends on executive instructions to be issued by the Minister of Education, with Al-Jazira Net citing Article 3 that the necessary executive regulations would be issued by a decision of the Minister of Education. The Syrian government’s handling of the public exam file for Sweida students was described by صحيفة الوطن السورية as being carried out away from ongoing political infighting related to the province’s crisis, framed as a commitment to students’ academic future. صحيفة الوطن السورية reported that Sweida Governor Mustafa Al-Bakkour confirmed on June 3 that full coordination had been made with the Ministry of Interior and the leadership of Internal Security in Sweida and Rural Damascus to arrange measures for students’ safety, including deploying fixed and mobile patrols and ensuring accompaniment for buses.
It added that armed groups allied with al-Hijri blocked the Sweida–Damascus road, preventing some students from reaching the buses, and that checkpoints in Hasba and Umm al-Zeitoun forced dozens of teachers to disembark and prevented them from continuing to the approved centers. In the same context, ANF said the decree covered students who were unable to take all exam subjects and aimed to give them a new opportunity to complete their exams and not lose their academic year, even as it left open whether exams would be conducted inside Sweida Governorate or at centers previously designated by the Ministry of Education outside the governorate.