Syrian children need education ‘urgently’

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Syrian child refugees pose at school in a Jordanian refugee camp. Many Syrian children in Turkey need education. REUTERS photo

Recent reports that a school for Syrian students has been opened in Istanbul are untrue, a senior member of a Syrian NGO has said but added that many refugee children in Turkey were in desperate need of education.

“There are 1,500 families in Mersin alone, think of how many children there are if each family has one child. When we consider all the Syrian children across Turkey, this makes a huge number. These children lack education and they shouldn’t pay the price for these difficulties,” said the vice president of the Syria Solidarity Institution, Maher Isa.

Recently it was reported that a Syrian school providing primary and high school education to Syrian students living in Turkey was opened in Istanbul’s Esenler district. However, Isa said they applied to the governor’s office for a course, not a school.

According to information obtained from Esenler Municipality officials, the governor's office did not give approval for the education of Syrian children, adding that providing books that were compatible with the Syrian curriculum was not permitted.

The governor's office and the Istanbul Education Directorate have not commented on the issue.