“I do not have any words to express my joy,” Dima Hiwa Ali, one of the top students from Sulaimani, told Rudaw.
Ali explained that she worked hard to get the highest grade she could, ensuring that she would have options available to her when she was applying to university.
According to the education ministry, 122,015 students wrote the exams - 39,547 in Erbil, 27,376 in Sulaimani, and 28,285 in Duhok.
The students who ranked top in the scientific track include Aran Luqman Hamagharib, Azhi Dara Jalal, and Dima Hiwa Ali, all from Sulaimani. The top student in the literary branch is Iman Ramazan Saeed from Duhok. The first ranked students in the vocational track are Asuda Jaza Karim, Rasti Rozhgar Kamaran, and Shewa Jamal Hamasalih from Sulaimani, and Marwa Sherzad Xzr from Erbil.
According to the ministry, students who have concerns about the accuracy of their grades can submit a request for a review of their tests and that the complaints will be considered thoroughly.
“Our ministry has the most beautiful and transparent process in the Middle East,” Education Minister Alan Hama Saeed said in a statement.
Fifty-one students were caught cheating on the exams, which the ministry said was a low number. The minister added that tens of people face charges for assisting students to cheat.
Students in prisons also wrote their exams.
“In all of the correctional facilities in the Kurdistan Region, 34 students have done the grade 12 exams, and five of them have passed the first round,” Ihsan Abdulrahman, head of the Kurdistan Region correctional directorate, told Rudaw on Saturday.
Most of the graduates will go onto pursue higher education.
“Like the previous years, for the 2024-2025 academic year, we will provide the most opportunities for grade 12th graduates,” Abbas Akram, spokesperson of the higher education ministry, told Rudaw on Saturday.
This school year one was troubled by a months-long strike in Sulaimani province that began in September after public servants went unpaid for around 90 days. The Kurdistan Regional Government reached a deal with Baghdad for the federal government to provide funds to cover its payroll.
In January, the Sulaimani education directorate announced that if teachers are absent from classes 30 days after January 9, they could be fired.