Syrian Refugee Schools in Turkey

Books / Ahmed Abdel Hadi

Syrian refugee schools in Turkey are many, and this reflects the great attention Turkey has provided to Syrian children after the Syrian crisis. Most students are in schools, unlike the first years of arrival, when the number of out-of-school students was greater than the number of students receiving education. With the passage of time, little by little, the Turkish Ministry of Education was able to integrate new schools and introduce students into the Turkish public education system, Here we learn about the most important information related to the education of refugee children from Syria.

Educating Syrian children in Turkey:

Since the arrival of Syrian children to Turkish territory, the educational process has been greatly developed. Upon arrival, most of them attended the more than 370 temporary learning centres, which received significant support from UNICEF , and later many of these centres were converted into transitional learning centres. 650,000 Syrian students are schooled. Some of them enrolled in temporary education centers supervised by Syrian teachers.

The number of children receiving education in Syria has increased year after year until their percentage in 2017 reached 60%, thus becoming more than the number of those receiving education outside schools. The Turkish Ministry of Education has counted the enrollment of more than 600,000 Syrian students in Turkish public education for the academic year 2018-2019. Since July 2017, the Turkish Ministry of Education has been It issued a mandatory decision to integrate Syrian students in the fifth and ninth grades into Turkish schools. She stressed that all Syrian students in Turkey will integrate into Turkish schools by the 2018-2019 school year.

After that, all Syrians were admitted to Turkish public schools, There are many obstacles to this integration, such as language and limited training for Syrian teachers, among others.

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Syrian Education Curriculum:

Primary schools are committed to providing the same curricula as Syrian schools that follow the Syrian regime. With the exception of only one article, This is in order to provide the same material that suits the Syrian child and suits his level and understanding.

Pupils from first to fourth grade receive 25 hours of regular study per week and there are five additional hours that the school is entitled to dispose of as it pleases. At the preparatory and secondary levels, students study 30 hours per week, with an additional five hours also disposed of by the school.

The number of Syrian teachers working inside the temporary centers is more than 14,000 Syrian teachers who are awarded a grant by UNICEF.

The most important schools for Syrian refugees in Turkey:

Al-Salam School is one of the most important schools for the education of Syrian children, As it is the pioneering and most important project for the children of Syria, It provides full free education for children without paying any tuition or book fees.

After the opening of the school, it witnessed a very large turnout by Syrian students, Many lined up to receive the flag, This led to the construction of another floor in the school and the reliance on a lot of Syrian teachers, School hours have also been increased to include five shifts a day, starting from seven in the morning until six in the evening, for six days a week.

The installments and textbooks for students are secured through financial and in-kind donations, and the school relies on a modified Syrian curriculum based on the Arabic language in order for the child to be able to reintegrate into the educational system again. English and Turkish are also taught to students intensively.