Turkey to hire 4,200 Turkish teachers for Syrian students

A group of Syrian students are seen at an edecation center in the Reyhanlı distrrict of the southern province of Hatay. 

The Education Ministry plans to temporarily employ 4,200 teachers for Syrian students in Turkey to teach the Turkish language and integrate them into the education system.

The teachers, to be hired as part of a deal signed between the EU and Turkey for the integration of Syrian students into the education system, will work at temporary education centers and schools where there is a significant number of Syrian students.

Education Ministry Lifelong Learning General Manager Ali Rıza Altunel told state-run Anadolu Agency that a 300-million-euro fund would be used for the project as part of the Turkey-EU deal on migrants.

Altunel said the Syrian students are being gradually included in the education system and 99 percent of the 151,000 foreign students in Turkey are Syrians. 

Education centers “The centers have been created because Syrians had problems of schooling in the cities where they live. The 4,200 teachers we will hire will work in these centers and the schools under our ministry where there are Syrian students,” he added.

The teachers will be hired for a one-year term, Altunel said, adding that they will be paid around 3,000 Turkish Liras a month for the term of their contracts. If the need continues and the EU continues its support, the contracts may be extended, he said.

Syrians live mostly in 23 provinces and the teachers to be hired will work in these provinces, Altunel stated.
“The cities with the most Syrians are Hatay, Gaziantep, Urfa, Kilis and Istanbul. Around 80 percent of the teachers will be working in these cities and the remaining 20 percent will be working in the other cities such as Bursa, Ankara and Kahramanmaraş,” he said.

Altunel noted that there are currently 833,000 Syrian children in Turkey of school age.

“Unfortunately, only 475,000 of them are receiving education. Some students outside of the school system are working to support their families. With a conditional financial support, we aim to include 20,000 more children in the education system,” he said.