Education Ministry Eases Official Exam Measures for Tripoli Students

Education Minister Hassan Diab vowed on Friday to take into consideration the “exceptional circumstances” for the Grade 12 students in Tripoli who weren’t able to sit for the second round of the official exams.

“The students who weren’t able to reach the exams centers will re-sit for the exams later on,” Diab told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

Heavy clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli broke out on Monday over a personal dispute.

Diab called on the students to attend their exams in the following days if the situation calms down in the northern city.

“We don’t want to put the lives of the students in danger,” the minister stated.

The five-days fighting is threatening to spiral out of control and was a clear sign of the spillover of the Syrian war to Lebanon.

The majority of Bab al-Tabbaneh residents are Sunnis and support the revolution against President Bashar Assad. But their rivals in Jabal Mohsen are mainly Alawites, the sect of the Syrian leader.