Over 610,000 Syrians enrolled in Turkish education system during 2017-2018 school year

Gamze Kolcu – ANKARA

Some 610,278 Syrian children were enrolled in Turkey’s national education system during the 2017-2018 school year, according to data provided by the General Directorate for Migration in the Turkish Interior Ministry. Of this figure, 49.54 percent (302,305) were girls and 50.46 percent (307,973) were boys, the data said. 

There are currently 973,200 Syrian school-aged refugee children in Turkey, according to the most recent data. This figure has been gradually increasing over the years, as it was reported as 833,039 in 2016.

Of the school-aged Syrian refugees, 610,278 were enrolled in either Turkish public school or temporary education centers. Of this figure, 36,548 were enrolled in pre-school education, 374,304 in primary school education, 137,613 in middle school education and 61,813 in high school education.

Temporary education centers teach an accredited curriculum in Arabic, so in order to integrate Syrian children to the Turkish education system and remove issues related to language, Turkish language lecturers are employed as part of the project “Promoting Integration of Syrian Children to Turkish Education System” (PICTES).

In this respect, 318 of temporary education centers in 21 provinces offered intensive Turkish classes to a total of 222,429 Syrians during the 2017-2018 school period.

The Turkish government aims to close these temporary education centers gradually and transfer the students to public schools to foster an integration between Syrian and Turkish children.