North Syria has recently witnessed the return of thousands of people who had dropped out of school, after being absent from it for several years, as a result of leaving their universities in the areas controlled by the Syrian regime, which pursued them and clamped down on them, prompting them to flee, abandoning their future and their certificates.
The relative calm experienced by northern Syria, specifically the Idlib governorate in northwestern Syria, contributed to the return of students to schools and universities.
This return included a large number of those who had stopped studying for many years, and the presence of advanced students in age became normal.
Dr. Khaled Al-Khalil said that the universities of northwestern Syria provided facilities for the return of those who had dropped out of their studies to their seats.
He pointed out that universities in the north of the country confirmed that any interrupted student has the right to return to education after submitting an application to the deanship of the college.
He pointed out in his speech: “We made it easier by exempting students from the drop-out fees for the last year. All students who dropped out were exempted from the drop-out fees, which must be paid by the student, which constitutes 20 dollars.”
Al-Khalil considered that there are several reasons that prompted the people who dropped out to return to school, the first of which is the relative calm that currently exists in northern Syria, and the second is the students’ need for certificates in order to enter the labor market, as well as the failure of Russian warplanes to bomb areas outside the control of the regime.
The number of students returning to study universities and masters in areas outside the control of the authority is estimated at 5,000 between male and female students, some of whom are elderly.
The “Global Justice Syria News” website met with a number of students, including Muhammad al-Ahmad from the Sarmada region, who holds a university degree from Tishreen University, a graduate of 2008, and a diploma in educational qualification from the University of Aleppo 2009, and recently obtained a master’s degree from the University of Idlib.
Al-Ahmad said in this regard: “I registered at the University of Idlib to obtain a master’s degree in 2017 and finished the preliminary year, although we were subjected to displacement conditions during 2018 and 2019, and I was able to discuss and obtain a master’s degree with a very good grade.”
He explained that the difficulties they face are the lack of books, as he said: “Therefore, we need a very difficult search through the Internet in order to complete the curriculum, and I am seeking to obtain a PhD in the future.”
The students who dropped out register in universities in order to complete the same branch that they studied previously or register in a new branch, if their grades allow them to enter it through comparison, in exchange for paying sums of money for each semester, according to the college they enter.
Muhammad al-Arif is a former university student at the Syrian regime’s “Ebla” University, which is the only university that operates outside the regime’s control areas and whose diplomas are recognized, but it was closed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham 6 years ago.
Muhammad decided to complete his studies at the University of Idlib, where a transcript was submitted to the university, and he completed his studies from the third year in the Faculty of Pharmacy, with an amount paid for each semester.
Muhammad said, “In the seventh month of this year, I will obtain a graduation certificate, and then I will go to the labor market, as the organizations recognize the certificates of students who graduated from the universities of Aleppo and Idlib.”
