Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Kılıç Ceyhan E., Ceyhan S., Karabacak M. E., Akpınar M. T., Sakarya N.
Erasmus Projesi, 2016 - 2019
War in the Middle East & North Africa have caused a humanitarian disaster for those countries & its neighbors. According to a report released in September 2015 by UNICEF, 13+ million children are not attending school in the Middle East & North African countries affected by conflicts, while e.g. 1 in 4 schools in Syria cannot be used because they have been destroyed, damaged or been re-purposed as shelters or military headquarters. Syria especially has been badly affected during the civil war that has raged through the country. According to the latest reports from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), almost 5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, 3.6 million of which are internally displaced in Syria & 1.4 million of which have become refugees in neighboring countries. Of these refugees, it is estimated by UNICEF that at least 50% (or close to 700,000) are under the age of 18.
The needs of refugees begins with the basics like safety, health, nutrition & shelter. Security, shelter & nutrition are met by the international agencies & neighboring countries. Education however is becoming the top priority to keep all these children occupied & prepare them for their eventual post-conflict return to their nation. It is important to Syria & the region that this generation of Syrian children do not end up irreparable damaged as a result of this war, as it may lead to further bouts of violence in the future.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) claims that less than one third of the 700,000 Syrian children who have entered Turkey in the last four years are attending school. According to HRW, language barriers, the cost of schooling & difficulty integrating into Turkish society are the main obstacles stopping Syrian children being taught: e.g. although enrollment is free, proficiency in Turkish is obligatory before they can enroll in Turkish schools. The same is applicable to the refugees that have succeeded in entering European countries & have now started entering the national school systems as well, they require at least knowledge of a national language. Approximately half of the Syrian refugees are under the age of 18 & around 40% under the age of 12.
A recent study of children refugees in the Islahye refugee camp (TR) revealed the following:
- 79% had war death in family
- 60% had seen actual violence on a person
- 30% had themselves been abused (kicked, shot at, physically hurt)
- almost 45% displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress-disorder
- 44% reported depression symptoms
- 1/4 reported daily psychosomatic pains in limbs
- 1/5 had daily headaches.
Many of the obstacles faced by refugee students (especially those that are unaccompanied) reflect in the classroom behavior & can be explained by the neuro-developmental effects of trauma. These include, but are not limited to:
- challenges processing information, organizing materia