New road map to boost for Syrian refugees education

Turkey has drafted a new road map for the regular access to education for children of Syrian refugees, which make up the largest refugee community in the country at nearly 3 million.

Education remains among the key problems facing refugees who were displaced by the five-year war in Syria, Turkey's southern neighbor.

The National Education Ministry set up a new agency to exclusively handle the education of refugees and introduced a series of measures for access to "quality education" for all refugees.

The Immigration and Emergency Education Department set up by the ministry will oversee the enrollment of refugees who had to cease their education due to war, poverty or trauma stemming from conflicts, their integration into the education system, the prevention of bullying or isolation at Turkish schools and will train school administrators and teachers to be aware of their situation.

As part of the road map, new primary schools will be opened for refugee children and current "temporary education centers" accepting refugee children only will be expanded. School curriculums will be compatible with the Turkish curriculum and schools will offer classes for integration into the Turkish education system. Extra Turkish classes will also be provided to accelerate their integration.

The ministry also plans extra classes for Syrian children of school age who had to drop out of school during the conflict to help them keep up with the curriculum.

Syrian schoolchildren will also be provided accommodation at boarding schools.