ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – High school students in the northern Aleppo countryside have difficulty accessing exam centers in Aleppo city and sitting their exams, especially with the number of checkpoints spread along the road, the far distance, and lack of transportation.
Jamal Hassan Alweis, a student applying for high school exams of the literary branch and a resident of the town of Deir Jamal, told North Press, "to wake up at six in the morning and take a car going to the city of Aleppo to sit for the exam is a regular matter for every high school student, but in the absence of transportation and obstacles in the roads, the exam has become a scary nightmare."
"I spend more money than I can, because I had to rent a taxi with a number of my colleagues, because there are no buses to drive us to Aleppo…the road to the city has dozens of security checkpoints, forcing us to wake up early," Alweis said.
"The student needs appropriate psychological conditions, which are not available to me and my colleagues."
Many high school students from rural Aleppo preferred to temporarily reside in Aleppo city during the exams period, either by renting rooms and houses in the city and its outskirts, or by residing with relatives, and those who could not secure housing had to endure the hardship of travel.
Ismail Ahmed al-Nadaf, a high school student of the scientific branch from Tel Rifaat said, "I have to go to Aleppo city after crossing dozens of checkpoints that check my ID, and sometimes I get afraid of being taken for compulsory [military] service because I am too close to the age of the compulsory service."
He added, "I stay in the university hospital with a relative of mine who works in the hospital, to avoid traveling, so I spend several days in Aleppo and then return to Tel Rifaat."
The families of students consider the suffering of their children no less than that of students in Idlib, so the Directorate of Education in Aleppo should follow the example of its counterpart in Hama, and allocate housing for students of the countryside, like the students of Idlib.
Abdulhamid Muammar, Idlib Education Director, said earlier this month to Syrian government official news agency SANA that a number of schools have been equipped to host Idlib students in Hama and ensure a healthy residency requirement.
“It was agreed upon with representatives of some international support organizations to secure and equip the centers with the requirements, to provide them to students safely and free of charge, in addition to securing transportation to and from the exam center,” SANA quoted Muammar.
Ali Ahmad Hamdoush, an educational instructor at the Azaz Educational Complex supervising Zahraa Examination Center, said there is a significant shortening by the educational committees regarding the students of northern Aleppo countryside, especially Afrin and Azaz complex, “Most students are either in the areas of Tal Rifaat and Shahba, or in Nubl and Zahraa and their surroundings, and it is not difficult for the Education Directorate to allocate daily buses to transport students and avoid the hardship of travel."