Education in Syria’s Sweida governorate remains severely disrupted more than a year after the July 2025 events, with thousands of students unable to complete critical exams and university attendance effectively halted, according to statements from a local lawyer and rights advocate.
Students, families and teachers caught in limbo
The lawyer described the education system in the governorate as being in a "catastrophic state", noting that more than 16,000 secondary-school students — and a similar number of ninth-grade pupils — have been left uncertain about their academic futures because they could not sit for examinations. University students have likewise been unable to return to campus due to prevailing security conditions.
Those interruptions exacerbate broader economic and social pressures. Women in Sweida are confronting a compound of challenges: low incomes, rising living costs, limited employment opportunities and heavy household and caregiving responsibilities that curtail participation in the workforce and in decision-making.
- Educational disruption: Secondary, ninth-grade and university examinations and attendance remain suspended for many students.
- Economic strain: Families face reduced incomes and mounting costs affecting students’ access to schooling and learning resources.
- Security and displacement: Instability has restricted movement and access to services, including schooling.
Women’s increased visibility shadowed by violence
While women in Sweida have reportedly become more socially present and active since the events of July 2025, that greater visibility has coincided with increased burdens and threats that limit their opportunities for leadership and stable livelihoods.
On human-rights violations during the July events, the lawyer provided a first-hand assessment of violence against civilians and women, describing targeted and brutal acts. The source said the events included forced abductions and sexual violence and characterised many of the killings during that period as deliberate.
“As a woman from Sweida who was present during the events, I can describe what happened as deliberate field killings and a deliberate indiscriminate attack against civilians and women.”
These accounts underline the simultaneous humanitarian and educational crises facing households in the governorate. Displacement and insecurity have reduced the ability of families to access schools or provide the conditions required for remote or catch-up learning.
What this means for the future
Interruption of formal assessment and prolonged campus closures carry long-term consequences for students’ pathways to higher education, employment and professional licencing. Missing critical examination years — particularly at the secondary and ninth-grade levels — can create cohorts with delayed credentials, increasing the risk of school dropouts and limiting future labour-market prospects.
Restoring educational services will require more than reopening classrooms: communities and authorities will need to address safety, provide psychological supports for students and staff, rebuild lost administrative capacity to deliver examinations, and create pathways for those who missed assessment opportunities to re-enter formal education.
| Affected group | Reported impact |
|---|---|
| Secondary-school students | More than 16,000 unable to sit exams |
| Ninth-grade pupils | Comparable numbers left uncertain about academic futures |
| University students | Attendance suspended due to security conditions |
Community leaders and rights advocates in the region stress the need for accountability for crimes committed during the July events, alongside concrete plans for safe returns of displaced people, restoration of services and sustained international attention to the protection of civilians and students.
For students, teachers and families in Sweida, the coming months will be critical: successful recovery depends on restoring physical access to schools, addressing the economic barriers that prevent attendance, and ensuring that any transitional arrangements for examinations or credentials are equitable and transparent.
The layered crisis in Sweida underscores how conflict and insecurity can quickly erode educational systems and highlights the particular vulnerabilities of women and girls when services, livelihoods and protection break down.
