As hundreds of thousands of Syrian high school students prepare to take exams, their government is taking an extreme precautionary measure: cut off Internet access across the country.
Syria's authoritarian regime has long interfered with the country's internet through Syrian Telecom, η οποία ελέγχει τις κύριες διαδρομές που χρησιμοποιεί η web κυκλοφορία μέσα και έξω από τη χώρα. Οι διακοπές modes of the Internet are common during duration του συνεχιζόμενου εμφυλίου πολέμου στη Συρία — αλλά εδώ και χρόνια χρησιμοποιούνται για την “ομαλή διεξtreatment of the exams".
How well the Syrian students are doing in their final exams in high school is a key factor in the choices they will have in higher education, something that will determine the financial future of many.
The event puts a lot of pressure on students but also on family members who are trying to have that advantage possible in the difficult years of the civil war.
"The stakes are high and everyone is trying to steal," said Doug Madory, director of Internet analytics at Kentik.
"Before Syria took the internet break during the exam period, 'questions began to appear on social media 30-60 minutes before each exam, allowing fraudsters to circulate the correct answers and jeopardize the integrity of the exams," he said. Madory in a 2016 post.
The way internet crashes usually work during the exam period in Syria is to block access to both fixed and mobile telephone lines a few hours before the exam, as questions are printed and distributed throughout the country. The cell phone service remains off while students write, according to Madory.
Syrian Telecom has cut off the #The Internet for national exams now twice this week. The #shutdowns occurred from 5:00 AM to 8:30 AM local time Monday May 30th and Thursday June 2nd.
— IODA (@IODA_live) June 2, 2022
Track Syria on the IODA dashboard:https://t.co/HMgxL7Uhwg
Exam Shutdowns: https://t.co/DXZ2He4Inz pic.twitter.com/qfU0F0gdlE
The state-funded Syria TV local network Reported that internet vacations are taking place again, despite the fact that the Syrian Minister of Education announced last summer that there will be vacations this year.
