Education is the Key for the Future of Syria

Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özdemir

Üsküdar University, İstanbul

(Published in INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AND CHILDREN – ULUSLARARASI, 11

Jul 2017. by Abulfez Suleymanov and Pelin Sonmez)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=97819107
81562

“If a person is sick, they can get treatment and get better.
If a child doesn’t go to school, it will create big problems in the future—they will
end up on the streets, or go back to Syria to die fighting, or be radicalized into
extremists, or die in the ocean trying to reach Europe”.
Shaza Barakat, director of a Syrian temporary education center in Istanbul and mother to a son
who died aged 16 in 2012, when he returned to Syria to fight with opposition forces after
finding no educational opportunities in Turkey. (HRW 2015)

Abstract:

The Syrian conflict began in March 2011 with a brutal military crackdown on
antigovernment civil and peaceful protestors in Daraa, a small town southwestern Syria.
This conflict eventually has displaced more than 12 million people by Feb., 2016.
Majority of Syrians. Therefore, the Syrian conflict is the biggest humanitarian, peace,
and security crisis facing the world today. Intensified fighting and a deteriorating
humanitarian situation continue to cause massive people flows within Syria and into the
region. Dislocation, on the other hand, tears the fabric of family and society. Many
countries and peoples struggle to receive the massive influx of refugees. Creating open,
inclusive, and willing integration into the new society that helps rebuild the fabric of
family and community is essential and urgent.
Humanization, civilization, and possession of a future are all made possible by
education. It means quality education is key for sustainable development, social

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cohesion, and a brighter future. Moreover, education is a fundamental human right to
which all men and women are entitled. Social development is ensured via high-quality
education. Likewise, better health services, greater participation in social activities and
enjoyment of fundamental rights are possible via education.
This suggests that education is a matter of survival for any nation in the 21st century.
This paper will analyze the Syrian refugees’ educational problems and suggests
alternatives to eliminate or at least minimize this problem.
Key words: Syria, refugees, education, war, conflict, peace education, human rights.

Introduction:
History of civilizations teaches that migration and its positive and negative results for
humanity is old as humanity itself. There are many reasons, famines, droughts, natural
disasters, economic, as well as political one. The migration of Syrians since 2011 is a
result of domestic political conflicts and instability. The Syrian conflict with a brutal
military crackdown on antigovernment civil and peaceful protestors in Daraa, a small
town southwestern Syria, began in March 2011. This conflict eventually has displaced
more than 12 million people by Feb., 2016. Majority of Syrians have fled to neighboring
countries in the region, such Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. Therefore, the Syrian conflict
is one of the biggest humanitarian, peace, and security crisis facing the world and
humanity today. Intensified fighting and a deteriorating humanitarian situation continue
to cause massive people flows within Syria and into the region. The UN estimates 13.5
million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance while 4.6 million have fled to
neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

Dislocation of millions of people tears the fabric of family and society on one hand,
creates complicated problems for receiving societies on the other. Although some
countries and peoples struggle to receive the massive influx of refugees, it seems that
current initiatives would be not enough to address the problem. Therefore, international
community should find and devise more creative and inclusive policies to minimize the
impact of refugees on receiving communities. Therefore, creating open, inclusive, and
willing integration into the new society that helps rebuild the fabric of family and

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community is essential and urgent. Unfortunately, some European countries has been
negative policies to accept refugees, which is against core values of European
enlightenment as well as human rights. Moreover, acceptance and integration of
refugees and migrants is a core duty of our modern world.

Education is Life
Many thinkers, philosophers and prophets, including Confucius, Socrates, Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh), Gandhi, Alfred North Whitehead, and Said Nursi, stressed the
importance of education for humanity and transformation of society. Moreover,
humanization, civilization, and possession of a future are all made possible by
education. It means quality education is key for sustainable development, social
cohesion, and a brighter future.
More importantly, it should not be forgotten that education is a fundamental human right
to which all men and women are entitled. Social development is ensured via high-quality
education. Likewise, better health services, greater participation in social activities and
enjoyment of fundamental rights are possible via education. This suggests that
education is a matter of survival for any nation in the 21st century. In a world of
interconnectedness and interdependence characterized by high technology and
enhanced means of communication, education appears to be the most important issue.
Therefore, human rights advocates claim and insist that “every child has a right to
education”. According to Sharon E. Lee, this claim is based primarily on two premises:
“First, rights advocates endorse the right to education because they believe that if
children receive basic primary education, they will likely be literate and numerate and will
have the basic social and life skills necessary to secure a job, to be an active member of
a peaceful community, and to have a fulfilling life. Second, rights advocates recognize
that, despite this recognition of education as a right by the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR), for example, many children fail to benefit from even basic
primary education” (Lee, 2013). Moreover, Lee argues that “(T)his gap between the
positive recognition of the right to education and the negative reality facing many
children has led rights advocates to conclude that education must be considered a
human rights issue on par with the right to food or the right to freedom” (ibid).

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On these bases, it can be concluded that, there is a need for a fundamental change of
mindsets and beliefs regarding education of refugee children and youth. So, once “the
right to education” is accepted, then “such a human right requires the need to establish
what qualifies education as an object in the set of vitally needed material goods,
personal freedoms, and secure protections that rights advocates claim each individual is
owed” (Lee, ibid). This concerns as much the question of what we are doing – and why
we are doing it – as it concerns the way we are doing it. Therefore, the purposes of child
education must focus on personal development, the preparation for the labor market,
and preparation for life as active citizens in modern, complex and democratic societies
of today. In other words, providing every child’s right to education in a porper way, would
“advance every child’s chance to get at least a minimal level of protection and support
as that child develops” (Lee, ibid).

Therefore, it is needless to say, education will be a permanent and remaining investment

in the future of a society and it is true for the future of Syrian refugees. To quote John
Dewey, “Since education is not a means to living, but is identical with the operation of
living a life which is fruitful and inherently significant, the only ultimate value which can
be set up is just the process of living itself.” (Dewey, 2014, 259; 1997). Therefore,
schools are a place of transmission and development of values, whether this is
intentional or not. Teachers, by the way they behave, by the language they use, by the
methods and pedagogy they choose, communicate values to the students and the whole
community.

No Education, No Future, No Peace!

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the
number of registered Syrians in Turkey is 2,715,789 (03 Mar 2016). UNHCR underlines
that approximately half of the Syrian refugees are under the age of 18, and around 40
percent are under the age of 12. The Directorate General for Migration Management
of Turkey which is founded in 2013, also confirms these numbers and notes that the
total number of refuges accepted by EU member countries is only 813.599. (January
2016).

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It should be underlined that before the conflict, Syria reported universal enrollment in
primary schools, and near-universal enrollment in secondary schools. However, during
the 2014-15 academic school year, half of all Syrian children did not attend school and
Syria’s primary school enrollment rate is now one of the lowest in the world. Upon arrival
in countries of first asylum, Syrian children have encountered various disruptions and
barriers to receiving an adequate education. The United Nations estimates that
approximately half of Syrian refugee children were not enrolled in school in mid-2015.
Recent studies suggest that the enrollment rates of school-age Syrian children are an
estimated 20 percent in Lebanon, 30 percent in Turkey, and 68 percent in Jordan. (Sirin-
Sirin, 2015).

EDUCATION GAP: GIRLS AND BOYS

Studies also underline that “the educational crisis is more severe for Syrian girls than

boys. Refugee girls have abysmal secondary school attendance rates; the lowest is in

Lebanon’s refugee camps, where 91 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 18 were

out of school in 2014”. It is well documented that the education of girls can greatly affect

intergenerational poverty, infant mortality rates, and family health and well-being.

Girls out of school are more vulnerable to early marriage and sexual exploitation, and

several reports have found this to be the case among Syrian girls. Data shows that there

ate “708,000 are school-age children” in Turkey. In 2014-2015, just over 212,000 were

enrolled in formal education at the primary and secondary levels, based on Ministry of

National Education data.

Although the enrollment rate inside refugee camps was nearly 90 percent, most Syrians

live outside camps, where only 25 percent of school-age children were enrolled in school.

For example, in Gaziantep approximately 350.000 Syrians live the city.

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The Turkish government has been generous and its exemplary works in its response

toward the Syrian human crisis, Turkey has struggled to ensure that Syrian schoolchildren

have the access to education.

According to the Turkish authorities, as of February 2016 Turkey had spent $7.5 billion

overall on the Syrian refugee crisis, while the total contributions it received from

international donors stood at $300 million. It should be kept in mind that what Turkish

people spend as a charity is not included. During our visit, we witnessed some people

who provided shelter even shared his apartment with refuges for free. Therefore, Turkey’s

investment represents the largest contribution “made to date towards addressing the

Syrian [refugee] crisis” as a whole.

Since March 2011, the Turkish government has built 25 camps near the Turkish-Syrian

border, where, as of August 13, 2015, it sheltered 262,134 Syrian refugees with the camps

at their full capacity.

The other 85 percent of the refugee population are “urban refugees,” scattered in towns

and cities throughout the country. The largest concentration lives in the southeastern

provinces on Syria’s border, where some municipal populations have increased by 10

percent or more due to the refugee influx. However, settlements of refugees from Syria

can also be found in major urban centers such as Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.

The Ministry of National Education of Turkey trying to do its best to ensure that Syrian

schoolchildren have the access to education and no child left behind. When I visited Mr.

Yusuf Buyuk, deputy undersecretary for education (Ankara, April 2016), he told me that,

“If we cannot educate these students, they will fall into the wrong hands, they are going

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to be exploited by gangs, criminals.... We are trying to improve the standards in our

country which means also improving standards for Syrians.” It seems that the Ministry of

National Education of Turkey is planning and envisioning the “elimination of barriers ...

such as language barriers, legislative barriers, and technical infrastructure gaps” that

prevented Syrian refugee students from attending school (Buyuk, 2016). Moreover, as a

local authority told us in a near future they have been planning to have at least initially

more than 100.000 children in schools in Gaziantep. It seems it will be a good example

for other cities as well as countries.

The authorities also acknowledged the positive and meaningful contribution prominent

national and international NGOs to reach all students and no child left behind project.

As we are told, the government adopted an important policy in September 2014 for the

education of Syrian children. However, when compared with Jordan and Lebanon, there

some major and key obstacles for Turkish authorities such as language barrier,

educational materials, social integration, and economic hardship. Turks are struggling to

provide Arabic material and also overcome the language barrier, employing Syrian

teachers. Still there are some obstacle for Syrian refugee children who live outside refugee

camps from attending school:

- Lack of information: families lack crucial information on Turkey’s educational

system and admission procedures.
- Language barriers: most Arabic-speaking Syrian children face a language barrier
in Turkish-language schools. Turkish authorities trying their best to overcome this
obstacle.
- Economic hardship: lack of money affects families’ ability to pay the costs of
transportation, supplies. Many families are dependent on their children’s income
because parents cannot make a fair wage without labor protections. (HWR, 2015)

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During our visit, we listened similar complaints from teachers as well as students.

However, we observed that education means hope for a better future and job for refugees.

Otherwise, “with no real hope for a better future, desperate Syrians may end up putting

their lives on the line to return to Syria or take dangerous journeys to Europe.”

Many NGOs have been working closely with local authorities and the Turkish government

need to work quickly to make sure that Syrian children in Turkey can go to school.

A report found that “securing these children’s education will reduce the risks of early

marriage and military recruitment of children by armed groups, stabilize their economic

future by increasing their earning potential, and ensure that today’s young Syrians will be

better equipped to confront uncertain futures”. (HWR, 2015)

In September 2014, the Ministry of National Education issued a policy that offered all

registered Syrian humans access to the public-school system. The ministry also began

accrediting Syrian “temporary education centers” – a system of schools operated by

charitable organizations and local communities that offer an Arabic-language curriculum.

However, for many Syrian families, practical obstacles remain. Many Syrian children are

unable to attend Turkish public schools because of the language barrier and lack of

Turkish language support for non-native speakers. Others face bullying and social

integration difficulties that lead students to drop out or that discourage them from enrolling.

Some Syrian families lack accurate information on enrollment procedures. Human Rights

Watch documented some cases of school administrators improperly turning away Syrian

families who attempted to enroll their children in local public schools.

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Temporary education centers are limited in number and not widely available in all

geographic areas hosting Syrian humans in Turkey, nor do the existing centers have the

capacity to serve the large number of Syrian schoolchildren who need education. Many of

the centers charge tuition or require families to pay additional transportation fees that put

them out of reach of some financially struggling Syrian families.

The Role of Teachers

Listening to teachers, looking around and talking to students once more we understand
the importance of teachers for refugee children. These teachers were examples of what
Jacob and Noam Neusner described as "good teacher" as follows:

What makes a good teacher, then, is clear. A good teacher is someone who can enter the mind of another person and
bring life to the mind of that person. A good teacher does the work by arguing, pressing, asking questions, challenging
answers, asking more questions. The life of the good teacher is expressed in giving life to ideas, imparting meaning
to what appears to lie entirely beyond the intellect, making the obvious into a problem, turning the world of settled
truths into an adventure. A good teacher is argumentative, disorderly, prepared for confrontation everywhere, all the
time, with everyone, on everything—all for the sake of the vital mind, the freely inquiring spirit. ( Allen, W. B. Barclay,
W. 2003, 9).

Therefore, teachers are important and key actors for social change and that the success

of education for refugees and the future of Syrian society depend significantly on the

teaching profession.

Although, there are many NGOs dealing and helping refugees, many of do not quite value

the role of teachers at the level it deserves. During or visit and talks with teachers we are

convinced that we were with some of the best teachers in the world, who are giving their

experience, energy, and hope to their students in these hard times.

Knowing that some of students are also orphans once more we understand what an

incredible teacher can mean to a child who lost his country, family and beloved one.

Meeting with some students and later visiting some families, it was not difficult to

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understand and appreciated the role of education and teachers for refugee children and

youth.

Once more, we convinced that a good teacher holds the power to influence, inspire and

shape a young person’s life for a better future. They represent the key to real change in

this world. Talking and listening to teachers, who themselves are refugees, was incredible

as well as instructive. We listened to similar stories and tragedies of young people from

them. It is not like you are watching it on TV or reading on newspapers about refuges.

You are talking to them right away. You can see both their suffering, sacrifices and also

hope from their eyes and emotion. It is really challenging and touching to meet and talk to

these devoted and committed teachers.

You once more fully understand that teachers are uniquely placed to recognize and

support the most vulnerable and troubled children in refugee camps and outside of the

camps. They reach young people early on in their education and provide them with the

extra support they need and giving them the best possible chance in life. This is an

incredible work for our common future.

ANY NEGLECTED CHILD MAY BE A PROBLEM FOR TOMORROW

Every neglected child without education, basic life skills, and hope, may be a potential

problem for the society and world community. Therefore, the education of refugee children

and youth is not only key for the future of Syria also for the future of the region and the

world security.

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Many countries revising their migration polices. They preferring to accept educated

refugees. It means children and humans with a good education and skills also may have

a future wherever they go or they are accepted.

Visiting refugee schools in Gaziantep, the role of education and the teacher are reinforced

and its importance confirmed as the world questions the problem of refugees in general

and what future we want for their children. Spending two days with children and teachers

it was really amazing and also inspirational to see the role of education and teachers.

These teachers, like Kawkab, grew up in Syria and were in schools. After conflicts broke

out in Syria they were regularly witnessed exposed to violence. This is why they left

country and become refugees. Many of their students left traumatized from witnessing a

shooting on their way home from school.

Now, they are back at the school and teaching their students. They are not only teaching

a regular curriculum, they are also developing trusting, respectful and affectionate

relationships, encouraging youngsters to work together and rewarding positive behavior

to be a part of family and also Turkish society.

Educational Needs of Syrian Refugee Children

In the past, Syria considered as “an education success story,” reporting universal

enrollment in primary school and near-universal enrollment in secondary school.

However, during the 2014-15 school year, 51 percent of all Syrian children did not attend

school, and in the hardest-hit areas up to 74 percent of children were not enrolled. As of

2014 Syria’s net primary education enrollment rate was the second-lowest in the world.

After conflict, one in four schools have been destroyed, damaged, or converted into

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shelters; and as of September 2015, an estimated 2.7 million Syrian children did not attend

school.

The deterioration of Syria’s education system means that many children arrive in refugee

camps already at an educational disadvantage. If there has been a disruption in their

schooling, refugee children will be behind in all subjects and will need to catch up while

simultaneously learning a new language and adjusting to an entirely new cultural and

social environment.

To concluded, “Syrian refugee children will likely need ongoing, targeted support to bridge

the gaps in their education, attain fluency in the host-country language, and deal with

trauma and other mental health symptoms”. To this, NGOs should work hand-in-hand with

local authorities as well as families.

What can be done

It’s easy to take these overwhelming statistics at face-value and declare with passion

that, “Something must be done to help all of these poor children out there!” If we stop for

long enough to look at the data regarding Syrian refugees and their children and examine

exactly what it is that is being measured, three things become clear:

1. Thousands of refugee children still out school, waiting for us.

2. Thousands of children who currently live on the streets or have left their education

due to forced labor, war or natural disasters, still have the chance for education

and schooling.

3. Thousands of children even attending a school, need educational material, food,

clothe and protection.

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The meaning of these three truths is evident and has clear message for us: There are a

lot to be done Syrian refugee children and the education is the first and most important

one.

Conclusion
Syrian refugee children need many things: Shelter, food, protection, health, sanitation,

and education. However, education is vital and key for the future of individual humans,

families, and Syria. If these children were not educated, they would be generation-lost.

Moreover, these uneducated generations will be a burden on society and a security

problem for international community. Therefore, we have to understand this problem in

depth and come up with a clear strategy.

Failing to provide Syrian children with education puts an entire generation at risk. With no

real hope for a better future, desperate Syrian humans may end up putting their lives on

the line to return to Syria or take dangerous journeys to Europe.

In short, the reality is very clear: Syrian refugee children out of schooling deserve nothing

less than our greatest efforts to provide them their basic human right: The right to

education. We must not forget that, without education and basic life skills, they will be the

most vulnerable and marginalized group in the future. Now, it's time to stop passing the

buck and launch a serious and efficient effort for the education of refugee children. To do

this, we have to change our mind set be a part of this process.

Today, we know better than ever that “change is not the work of one person (or of one

institution, or of one law). Change is a process in which many people and institutions are

involved and seize the opportunity to contribute”. “Change in education is a shared

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responsibility of all those who have a stake in it: learners, parents, teachers, teacher

trainers, schools, higher education, education policy, teacher associations and

organisations, civil society, etc” (Actions for Change, 2016).

If we change ourselves today to be a part of helping refugee children’s education, we can

change and shape the future of these children and youth through education. In a nutshell,

education is the key for the present and future of Syrian refugee children and youth.

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REFERENCES:

Actions for Change, (2016). https://eflatunplatosu.com/2016/03/19/actions-for-change/

Allen, William B.- Allen, Carol M. (2003), Habits of Mind: fostering access and excellence in
higher education, Transaction Publishers New Brunswick (U.S.A.) and London (U.K.).

Buyuk, Yusuf (2016). Personal Communication.

Education for sustainable democratic societies: the role of teachers, MED 23-13, 2010.

Education for change, (June 2015), Change for education, Council of Europe.

Dewey J., (1997), Democracy and education, first published 1916, Free Press, New York, NY,
1997.

Dewey, J., (2014). Democracy and Education, Aakar Books, Delhi.

Lee, S. E. (2013). Education as a Human Right in the 21st Century. Democracy and Education, 21 (1), Article 1.
http://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol21/iss1/1 (erişim: 1 Mart 2017).

Selcuk R. Sirin and Lauren Rogers-Sirin, (2015) “The Educational and Mental Health Needs of
Syrian Refugee Children, October 2015”. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/educational-
and-mental-health-needs-syrian-refugee-children

The Human Capital Report 2015, World Economic Forum.

UNICEF – http://www.unicef.org/statistics/index_step1.php

“When I Picture My Future, I See Nothing”: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in
Turkey, Human Watch 2015. https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/11/08/when-i-picture-my-future-i-
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