Nearly 400 thousand Syrian students don’t go to school in Turkey

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Affiliated with the Ministry of National Education, the Department of Education in Migration and Cases of Emergency has released a report regarding the education of foreign national students in Turkey.

According to the 2021-2022 data of the Directorate General of Migration Management, there are nearly 5 million 13 thousand 631 migrants in Turkey. The January 2022 data shows that 1 million 365 thousand 884 of this population are in the school age (at the ages of 5-17).

Of the population in the school age, 935 thousand 731 receive education in Turkey. The report of the Ministry of National Education has shown that while 68.51 percent of foreign nationals in the school age can receive education, 31.49 percent (430,153 children) are deprived of this right.

The report of the ministry has also listed the provinces where the highest number of students from Syria live. Of these provinces, İstanbul is on the top of the list and it is followed by Antep and Hatay, respectively.

Majority of students from Syria

According to the report, the majority of the school-age foreign national children in Turkey (5-17) are from Syria (1 million 124 thousand). 65 percent of this number (730 thousand) currently go to school. The remaining 35 percent (393,547 students), on the other hand, are out of education.

While 49.33 percent of the students are girls (359 thousand 735), 50.77 percent of them are boys (371 thousand 71).

Except for high school, the number of male students in the pre-school education, primary school and secondary education is higher than girls. In high school education, 56,130 students are girls while 51,682 are boys.

Schooling rates

While schooling rates increase in primary and secondary education, it drops below 50 percent in pre-school education and high school.

Of the Syrian children in the primary school age (417,546 in total), 75.13 percent (313,695) go to school. In secondary education, 80 percent of 335,952 children go to school, which accounts for 268,752 students. In high school education, only 107,812 of 252,772 students go to school. The schooling rate in high school education stands at 42.65 percent.

Why cannot they go to school?

The report of the Ministry of National Education has listed the reasons for the low schooling rates among Syrian children as follows:

"The education system in Syria is structured as 6+3+3 years and high school education is not mandatory.

"Due to economic hardships, children prefer contributing to the family budget after their secondary education.

"In some provinces, a resistance is observed about enrolment in schools due to the thoughts of migrating to a third country.

"Language barrier.

"Staying out of school for a long time.

"The traditional structure of Syrian families and their behaviors in line with it". (RT/SD)