Syrian education ministry delegation visits Rojava to set up exam centers

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation from the Syrian education ministry traveled on Monday to areas under the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) to establish official examination centers for students seeking national certification.

Rudaw’s Damascus correspondent Dilkhwaz Mohammed reported from the Syrian education ministry building that the delegation aims to open five centers in areas under the administration of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), specifically in Hasaka, Qamishli, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and the town of Sarrin in Kobane. 

Rudaw has learned that the ministry has offered two options for Rojava student transfers: students can either visit their previously registered center outside their province with the necessary documents and exam card to request a transfer, or go directly to a new center within their province to complete the transfer process.

The development follows a Sunday announcement by the Rojava administration that it had reached an agreement with Syria’s interim government to enable official education certification for students in its territory. DAANES said the agreement was made “to ensure the smooth running of the examination process, in the best interests of students and their educational future.”

The agreement includes a one-week postponement of preparatory school exams, the creation of joint oversight committees and temporary registration centers, and approval of registration transfers for students from outside the region.

Registration for the baccalaureate exams - locally known as such - will run from June 11 to 16 for ninth grade students, and from June 17 to 22 for 12th grade students, the Syrian education ministry announced on Monday. Samira Haj Ali, co-chair of Rojava's education board, told Rudaw English that around 70,000 students are expected to register at centers being set up by Damascus, though she noted that the exact number will be confirmed once registration concludes.

The United Nations has mediated the talks between DAANES and Damascus to reach an agreement about the future of Rojava-based students. 

Since 2011, Kurdish authorities in Rojava have implemented their own curriculum - replacing the state’s Baathist-influenced syllabus - and introduced Kurdish as a language of instruction for the first time.

Following a swift offensive, a coalition of opposition groups led by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), then-headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, in early December ousted the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

In late January, Sharaa was appointed Syria’s interim President and on March 10 he signed a landmark agreement with Mazloum Abdi, the chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to “integrate all civil and military institutions in northeast Syria [Rojava] under the administration of the Syrian state.” The SDF serves as the de facto army in Rojava.

The March 10 agreement further recognizes the Kurdish community as “indigenous to the Syrian state, which ensures this community’s right to citizenship and all of its constitutional rights.”

Last week, a Rojava delegation met with a Syrian government-appointed committee to finalize the Abdi-Sharaa agreement’s implementation. DAANES described the meeting as “positive and constructive,” with a focus on resolving exam-related issues and safeguarding students’ rights and the integrity of the education system.