Reporting by Orwa al-Sousi
(Eqtsad) In the past few days, various media sources and social media sites circulated news about a series of new decisions to organize the process of educating Syrians in Turkey concerned with the temporary education centers overseen by the Turkish Ministry of Education and which receives support from UNICEF, and concerned with improving the conditions for Syrian educators and teachers in these schools, increasing their wages, the mechanisms to select them, and choosing them in the temporary education centers.
This news came upon a major wave of discussion and debate, especially among Syrian teachers and educators in Turkey who hope these decisions will improve their living conditions and provide those who are unemployed will the appropriate opportunity.
In this regard, Eqtsad had a conversation with Amr al-Nimir, the head of the Scientific Renaissance Association in Turkey, and one of the people interested and monitoring the issue of Syrian education with the Ministry of Education and Turkish education.
Al-Nimir started his conversation with Eqtsad by recounting the stages that educating Syrians in Turkey has underwent, and the move from temporary educational centers to permanent schools.
The process of educating Syrians in Turkey has gone through many stages, it started with random schools that were established through individual initiatives by some organizations and these continued until 2014. After that the Ministry of Education with UNICEF support started what is called temporary educational centers to avoid raising some Turkish people’s anger, and to change the center’s status at any point in time, according to Amr al-Nimir’s description.
Except that the transcripts and certificates issues by the temporary educational centers at the time were not acknowledged outside of Turkey.
In April 2016, the Ministry of Education issued a decision to cancel the temporary status of these centers and annex them to Turkish schools, and acknowledge all the certificates issued by these centers inside and outside Turkey,
As this issue faced some difficulties, the process will begin by annexing Syrian students in the first grade in special classes in the Turkish Imam al-Khatib schools which are schools focusing on Arabic language and religious education alongside the other subjects taught at regular schools. The aim is to integrate these students completely in the following year within Turkish schools.
Regarding the problems of Syrian teachers in Turkey, al-Nimir said that the officials in the Ministry of Education are fully aware of the problems and they are working to solve them through what is called “education office for life,” which was recently established and tasked with monitoring the issue of Syrian refugees and it has branches in all Turkish provinces, and it resembles institutions in European countries to educate migrants.
The office’s first action was choosing 514 Syrian educators from the different provinces were the temporary education centers are located, and subjected them to preparation and habilitation courses that are underway at present in Konya province. These educators will be tasked later on with moving what they gained from skills to rest of the Syrian teachers after they pass exams and gain the qualifications. The exams will take place next Friday and all those who pass will become trainers for their colleagues.
Revealing 280 Falsified Certificates between Syrian in Urfa alone
Regarding the process selection process this year, al-Nimir said it will be the specialization of managers of the Education for Life branches in the Turkish provinces and those managers will be given the authorization to choose the mechanisms to form committees to conduct the interviews and verify the validity of certificates.
According to al-Nimir in some of the provinces such as Urfa provinces in southern Turkey, the branch manager for Education for Life formed an education committee, formed of academics and teachers, to select teachers and investigate the validity of the certificates they are carrying. The committee in Urfa managed until this point in time to uncover 280 falsified certificates in Urfa province alone which led a number of educational directorates in other provinces to disseminate news about their successful experience.
An Expected Rise in the Salaries and Wages of Syrian Teachers
Amr al-Nimir added that Syrian teachers’ salaries this year will be a minimum of 1300 Turkish Lira instead of 900 Turkish Lira, according to statements made by a number of Education for Life branch managers in some Turkish provinces.
Al-Nimir said that the number of Syrian students attending schools in Turkey are currently 330 thousand students dispersed in 220 temporary education centers. 290 thousand students are in elementary school while the remaining 40 thousand are divided between middle school and high school. This difference indicates the percentage of those not enrolling in schools at middle and high school level, and their orientation to work due to the economic and social situation of some Syrian refugee families.
Al-Nimir indicated in the conclusion of his conversation that the centers to support youth in the Turkish provinces started accepting Syrian students for free in sports and various entertainment sources after the sports courses cost 150 Turkish Lira per month.
(Eqtsad) In the past few days, various media sources and social media sites circulated news about a series of new decisions to organize the process of educating Syrians in Turkey concerned with the temporary education centers overseen by the Turkish Ministry of Education and which receives support from UNICEF, and concerned with improving the conditions for Syrian educators and teachers in these schools, increasing their wages, the mechanisms to select them, and choosing them in the temporary education centers.
This news came upon a major wave of discussion and debate, especially among Syrian teachers and educators in Turkey who hope these decisions will improve their living conditions and provide those who are unemployed will the appropriate opportunity.
In this regard, Eqtsad had a conversation with Amr al-Nimir, the head of the Scientific Renaissance Association in Turkey, and one of the people interested and monitoring the issue of Syrian education with the Ministry of Education and Turkish education.
Al-Nimir started his conversation with Eqtsad by recounting the stages that educating Syrians in Turkey has underwent, and the move from temporary educational centers to permanent schools.
The process of educating Syrians in Turkey has gone through many stages, it started with random schools that were established through individual initiatives by some organizations and these continued until 2014. After that the Ministry of Education with UNICEF support started what is called temporary educational centers to avoid raising some Turkish people’s anger, and to change the center’s status at any point in time, according to Amr al-Nimir’s description.
Except that the transcripts and certificates issues by the temporary educational centers at the time were not acknowledged outside of Turkey.
In April 2016, the Ministry of Education issued a decision to cancel the temporary status of these centers and annex them to Turkish schools, and acknowledge all the certificates issued by these centers inside and outside Turkey,
As this issue faced some difficulties, the process will begin by annexing Syrian students in the first grade in special classes in the Turkish Imam al-Khatib schools which are schools focusing on Arabic language and religious education alongside the other subjects taught at regular schools. The aim is to integrate these students completely in the following year within Turkish schools.
Regarding the problems of Syrian teachers in Turkey, al-Nimir said that the officials in the Ministry of Education are fully aware of the problems and they are working to solve them through what is called “education office for life,” which was recently established and tasked with monitoring the issue of Syrian refugees and it has branches in all Turkish provinces, and it resembles institutions in European countries to educate migrants.
The office’s first action was choosing 514 Syrian educators from the different provinces were the temporary education centers are located, and subjected them to preparation and habilitation courses that are underway at present in Konya province. These educators will be tasked later on with moving what they gained from skills to rest of the Syrian teachers after they pass exams and gain the qualifications. The exams will take place next Friday and all those who pass will become trainers for their colleagues.
Revealing 280 Falsified Certificates between Syrian in Urfa alone
Regarding the process selection process this year, al-Nimir said it will be the specialization of managers of the Education for Life branches in the Turkish provinces and those managers will be given the authorization to choose the mechanisms to form committees to conduct the interviews and verify the validity of certificates.
According to al-Nimir in some of the provinces such as Urfa provinces in southern Turkey, the branch manager for Education for Life formed an education committee, formed of academics and teachers, to select teachers and investigate the validity of the certificates they are carrying. The committee in Urfa managed until this point in time to uncover 280 falsified certificates in Urfa province alone which led a number of educational directorates in other provinces to disseminate news about their successful experience.
An Expected Rise in the Salaries and Wages of Syrian Teachers
Amr al-Nimir added that Syrian teachers’ salaries this year will be a minimum of 1300 Turkish Lira instead of 900 Turkish Lira, according to statements made by a number of Education for Life branch managers in some Turkish provinces.
Al-Nimir said that the number of Syrian students attending schools in Turkey are currently 330 thousand students dispersed in 220 temporary education centers. 290 thousand students are in elementary school while the remaining 40 thousand are divided between middle school and high school. This difference indicates the percentage of those not enrolling in schools at middle and high school level, and their orientation to work due to the economic and social situation of some Syrian refugee families.
Al-Nimir indicated in the conclusion of his conversation that the centers to support youth in the Turkish provinces started accepting Syrian students for free in sports and various entertainment sources after the sports courses cost 150 Turkish Lira per month.
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