The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) held a ceremony on Thursday to honor the top-scoring students in the 2024 general high school exams in the liberated northern Syria. The event occurred at the Faculty of Education auditorium at Gaziantep University in Afrin, in the Aleppo countryside.
The ceremony was attended by the SOC’s Vice President, Abdul Majid Barakat, several members of the SOC in the liberated areas, and several university presidents, unions, and local councils.
Barakat delivered a speech on behalf of the SOC’s President, Hadi Al-Bahra, in which he congratulated the highest-scoring students who overcame difficult conditions and challenges to excel in their high school exams.
Barakat emphasized that this success, despite the ongoing suffering of the Syrian people, represents a bright light and hope for a promising future and a dignified life. It encourages everyone to continue advancing in all fields to carry on the great Syrian revolution until achieving a free Syria characterized by justice, where the dignity of its citizens is preserved, their rights are guaranteed, and their freedoms protected. He stressed the vision of a state governed by law, ensuring equality in rights and duties for all citizens, under a democratic system based on political pluralism.
Barakat also highlighted that the SOC is making dedicated efforts through diplomatic meetings and engagements with friendly and donor countries to secure necessary support for the education sector in the liberated areas. He praised the Syrian people’s determination to continue education despite the harsh conditions created by the Assad regime, which continues to sabotage liberated areas and target their infrastructure. Statistics show that the regime and its partners carried out 170 attacks on schools and educational centers in the last five years, with hundreds of attacks before that, leaving hundreds of thousands of children out of school.
Barakat said, “Our community’s commitment to education is the path to liberation and reconstruction. The success of our students is not only a personal achievement but a victory for Syria and its people, who love life and insist on it despite the horrors they have endured and continue to face with courage, patience, and determination. It is a message to everyone that we are capable of achieving, progressing, and rebuilding a new Syria.”
Barakat also extended his gratitude to all those who contributed to this success, including teachers, principals, supervisors, and parents, recognizing their significant role in shaping this success and their important contribution to building the new generation.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
