Reporting by Abdulhafiz Holani
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Yusef Abed al-Moulayet, who achieved first place in the Syrian general baccalaureate exams in its scientific branch in Lebanon with a score of 229 from a total of 240, always remembers the wise phrase, “learning is light and ignorance is darkness.” He remembers it as he today faces how he wasted his days running after a piece of paper that proves his attainment of an illusion called the high school certificate, and he remembers it as he looks at the face of Qamar Khalid Bakir who attained second place in the same scientific branch.
According to Qamar’s father, she was an outstanding student at the level of al-Qunaitra province in English before her family migrated to Lebanon. Between attaining the first place in the basic education certificate exam in the town of Jayrud and the second at the level of Damascus suburb, the wisdom of pushing for educational excellence in the last 11 years of her life has been brought into question.
An Incomplete Happiness
Qamar’s father was happy when he read the Facebook posts announcing and celebrating his daughters’ success, and perhaps he would have danced as he searched for the closest baklava shop to buy sweets to distribute in his happiness as his dream for Qamar to become a pharmacist became closer, but a decision by her school took away his joy. There is no possibility before Qamar except to study in institutes set up recently by the Interim Syrian government which even if she joined her degree will have no legitimacy and it is not recognized by any state.
Zaman al-Wasl communicated with Mohammad Mindo, the director of the office for education and teaching for the Syrian Interim government in Lebanon and asked him about the fate of these outstanding students, and their chances of achieving their ambitions. He responded without dressing up the truth or maneuvering around the question, “Lebanon does not distinguish in its dealings with us refugees between the humanitarian and the political which made it very difficult for our students to have options or substitutes. No Lebanese university recognizes our Syrian student’s degrees on the basis they did not study in a Lebanese school, and no one recognizes the certificates awarded by the interim government’s institutes which we managed to set up in Arsal and some close to Tripoli such as an education institute and a medical institute.”
Mindo added, “those students have no solution but gain a scholarship and travel to a country friendly with Syria and which has white hands in embracing Syrians such as Turkey, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, or Qatar, taking in consideration the facilitated travel conditions.” He insisted on the issue of a guardian accompanying students especially as most of the outstanding students this year are women.
In 2016, in the 19 Syrian high schools dispersed all over Lebanese territory, 470 students, between male and female, underwent the high school certificate exams in its literary and scientific branches. “They are our treasure and our wealth, and we must preserve them and continue in the path of success, and there is no opportunity for that except by friendly countries offering them scholarships,” according to Mindo.
Qamar’s father confirmed to Zaman al-Wasl that he is starting to feel anxious and worried about the future of his other daughters. He is thinking of registering them in the first grade in a Lebanese school so they will have the opportunity to complete their education in Lebanese universities with the knowledge they are now dispersed between the 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade in the Syrian schools.
Yusef, Qamar, Biyan, Nour al-Huda, Mariam, and Reem are names painted with honor by the brush of Syrian refuge in Lebanon, on a painting the people have destined to not yet reach its end.
(Zaman Al Wasl)- Yusef Abed al-Moulayet, who achieved first place in the Syrian general baccalaureate exams in its scientific branch in Lebanon with a score of 229 from a total of 240, always remembers the wise phrase, “learning is light and ignorance is darkness.” He remembers it as he today faces how he wasted his days running after a piece of paper that proves his attainment of an illusion called the high school certificate, and he remembers it as he looks at the face of Qamar Khalid Bakir who attained second place in the same scientific branch.
According to Qamar’s father, she was an outstanding student at the level of al-Qunaitra province in English before her family migrated to Lebanon. Between attaining the first place in the basic education certificate exam in the town of Jayrud and the second at the level of Damascus suburb, the wisdom of pushing for educational excellence in the last 11 years of her life has been brought into question.
An Incomplete Happiness
Qamar’s father was happy when he read the Facebook posts announcing and celebrating his daughters’ success, and perhaps he would have danced as he searched for the closest baklava shop to buy sweets to distribute in his happiness as his dream for Qamar to become a pharmacist became closer, but a decision by her school took away his joy. There is no possibility before Qamar except to study in institutes set up recently by the Interim Syrian government which even if she joined her degree will have no legitimacy and it is not recognized by any state.
Zaman al-Wasl communicated with Mohammad Mindo, the director of the office for education and teaching for the Syrian Interim government in Lebanon and asked him about the fate of these outstanding students, and their chances of achieving their ambitions. He responded without dressing up the truth or maneuvering around the question, “Lebanon does not distinguish in its dealings with us refugees between the humanitarian and the political which made it very difficult for our students to have options or substitutes. No Lebanese university recognizes our Syrian student’s degrees on the basis they did not study in a Lebanese school, and no one recognizes the certificates awarded by the interim government’s institutes which we managed to set up in Arsal and some close to Tripoli such as an education institute and a medical institute.”
Mindo added, “those students have no solution but gain a scholarship and travel to a country friendly with Syria and which has white hands in embracing Syrians such as Turkey, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, or Qatar, taking in consideration the facilitated travel conditions.” He insisted on the issue of a guardian accompanying students especially as most of the outstanding students this year are women.
In 2016, in the 19 Syrian high schools dispersed all over Lebanese territory, 470 students, between male and female, underwent the high school certificate exams in its literary and scientific branches. “They are our treasure and our wealth, and we must preserve them and continue in the path of success, and there is no opportunity for that except by friendly countries offering them scholarships,” according to Mindo.
Qamar’s father confirmed to Zaman al-Wasl that he is starting to feel anxious and worried about the future of his other daughters. He is thinking of registering them in the first grade in a Lebanese school so they will have the opportunity to complete their education in Lebanese universities with the knowledge they are now dispersed between the 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade in the Syrian schools.
Yusef, Qamar, Biyan, Nour al-Huda, Mariam, and Reem are names painted with honor by the brush of Syrian refuge in Lebanon, on a painting the people have destined to not yet reach its end.
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