DIALOGUE BETWEEN TURKISH AND SYRIAN EDUCATORS FOR EDUCATING THE CHILDREN OF SYRIAN REFUGEE FAMILIES 14-15 June 2016

1. 14-15 June 2016
REPORT SUBMITTAL OF THE WORKSHOP FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN
TURKISH AND SYRIAN EDUCATORS FOR EDUCATING
THE CHILDREN OF SYRIAN REFUGEE FAMILIES

2. Firstly, we would like to thank the Turkish people and government for
the support they provide for Syrian people, both in general and
especially education.
This workshop is targeted towards the students who are at a very
influential age and to help prevent behavioral abnormalities and to
stop them from joining any radical military organizations.
In essence, our target is to improve the all aspects of education at all
levels, and provide education for all school-age children (under 18).
Currently, approximately 3 million Syrians are living in Turkey and 1.5
million of this are under 18 years old. Unfortunately, only 350
thousand of these children attend to school (a quarter of this are
registered to state schools). The significant value of administration in
the education system and supporting international organizations is
paramount. Our aim here is to identify the issues that hinder the
education process, considering management as one of these issues.
In this work, we analyzed the education provided to the children
Syrian refugees under three headings.
These are:
1) The Management of Education System
2)Syrian Educators
3)Curriculum in Temporary Education Centers (TEC)
INTRODUCTION

3. 1/ MANAGEMENT
THE MAIN TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED IN THE WORKSHOP REGARDING ADMINISTRATION ARE:
1) General administration and the various branches
2) Educational administration
3) School administration
4) Classroom administration
5) Characteristics of a successful administration

4. ISSUES THAT HINDER THE EDUCATION PROCESS:
1) The absence of official representatives of education such as the Minister of Education in the Syrian provisional
government.
2) Restriction of the Syrian role in participating in the decision making process concerning the education system for Syrians
and narrowing its authority to only receiving orders.
3) The absence of the educational department centers, with highly-qualified, experienced specialists of high qualifications
and experience supervising the educational process and taking a part in the decisions making process.
4) Having the privet Syrians schools controlled by their managers in making decisions because of owning a capital.
5) Recruitment of educators without considering their lack of experience or qualifications.
6) Acting as if having private ownerships for certain schools relying on financial sponsorship, where sponsors assume the
authority to allow hiring of acquaintances and relatives, that leads to inexperienced type of management.
7) Lack of any training system for educators despite the (limited) efforts done by some organizations.
8) The absence of qualified participants and Syrian education specialists in exam preparations (writing, selecting questions).

5. SUGGESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS FOR THE ISSUES THAT HINDER EDUCATION IN TURKEY:
First: Management section, educators section, students section (solutions for mutual cases),
1) A high committee or commission (specifically for pre-university education system) that has legal rights to be
responsible for solving the issues in the field of education for Syrians shall be formed, also support is required to make
decisions rather than impose rules.
This high committee should include representatives of all the following:
• Ministry of Education in Turkey.
• Ministry of Education of Provisional Syrian Government.
• Supportive organizations.
• Specialist of civil society organizations.
Its responsibilities are to
• Work on creating a system that controls the educational process as a whole i.e. starting from the Syrian manager and
Turkish coordinator, educators to the rest of the staff. Their relation with official center of education in Turkey;
• Organize a syllabus for the whole school year. Designate the dates of examinations, the beginning and the end of the
school year and the public holidays;

6. 2) Establishing educational centers in the cities, including organizations and foundations of the civil society that comes
directly from the common high committee and ministry of education in turkey, which consist of administrative centers,
directing centers and continuous training center.
Its responsibilities are to:
• Direct supervision in schools to follow up the educational process;
• Observe and follow up of the educator’s performance by specialists in education;
• Collect statistics for schools and set up a database;
• Standardize the salaries in all schools and determine the necessary salaries to enable living a normal life by taking into
account the years of experience, qualifications and administrative positions;
• Implement an auditing system to detect the fake certificates and documentation;
• Establish an examinations system to identify the educators level of education and their qualifications;
• Develop plans to train educators and improve their skills and keep them in the scoop of new technologies;
• Open new schools that have the capacity to take in the children desiring to go to school. Consider the geographical
distribution in every city;
• Supervise temporary educational centers;
• Supervise the school curriculum and work on unifying it, including private schools, institutes in which the role of supporter
is defined by administrative responsibilities not the education related;

7. • Confirm implementation of the rules imposed directly by the high commission of education;
• Open craft and vocational schools, and register Syrian students to existing schools. By opening vocational schools,
the students are enabled to obtain qualifications that they can use both in Turkey and Syria while the students’ families
earn additional income;
• Develop some techniques for Syrian educators to learn Turkish;
• Prepare special education programs for Syrians graduating from Faculties of Education in order to employ them in
Turkish schools;
• Provide language and vocational trainings plus prep classes for Syrians under 18;
• Follow the registration of first grade and pre-school students directly to state schools;
• Generalize state incentives for registering fifth grade students directly to state schools;
• Provide transportation means and school uniforms to students;
• Meet Turkish textbook and basic science equipment requirements;
• Organize continuous events and programs in schools easing peaceful interactions between Turkish and Syrian
students and their families plus overcoming the prejudice between to communities;
• Continue the works with children suffering from war and immigration traumas and establish a counselling system in
their own language.

8. Approval standards for school principals:
• To have a bachelor degree or diploma of education.
• To be submitted for written exam prepared by a special committee assigned by the high commission of education.
• Create training courses for the ones who passed the exam.
Approval standards for educators:
• Written exam and interview.
• After passing the exam educators should be accepted regarding their experience and level of qualification, taking
into consideration the educators who have diploma of education and widows.

9. THE MAIN TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED IN THE WORKSHOP REGARDING EDUCATORS ARE:
1) Job security
2) Training of educators, providing equivalence certification
3) Selection of educators from local/foreign schools
4) Internal system regulating education process
2/ EDUCATORS

10. MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES AND ISSUES THAT EDUCATORS ARE EXPOSED TO:
1) Recruitment for educators without a net legal procedure: without considering their of lack of experience and
qualifications.
2) Educators try to provide education while being under oppressive control of the school principals due to non-existence of
an internal system.
3) Several applications for Syrian Educators to District Directorates of National Education are made with false documents,
and these persons are currently employed at TECs (approximately 30%).
4) Low incentives (only 900 TL is given each for 11 thousand educators), determined and provided by support organizations,
cause living more challenging for these educators as it is not suitable for the life standards in Turkey, leading educators to
quit their jobs.
5) Nonexistence of working permit lead to instability.
6) The absence of suitable Turkish books for all ages and levels.
The suggestions and solutions for the issues that hinder the education is the same of that in management.

11. ISSUES:
1) Oversized curriculum which is not revised nor retouched to suit the post-Syrian revolution ideology.
2) The curriculum philosophy which is based on old ideas such as one-party state.
3) Lack of credibility in some subjects as in (History, Arabic language, Religious teachings/Islamic teachings).
4) Weakness of the systematic structure of the curriculum.
5) The illustrative pictures don’t fit the content.
6) Lack of teaching materials.
3/ SYRIAN CURRICULUM

12. WHAT SHALL THE ADAPTATION OF THE CURRICULUM INCLUDE?
• Books structure i.e. topic sequence and its linkage.
• Books cover: suitable for the present and future status of the country.
• Script of Standards.
• Equivalent subject will include all subjects.
THE CURRICULUM GOALS:
• A curriculum that represents: all Syrian people without taking sides or monopolization for a certain group, the reference
of Syrian nation without an image distortion, the ambition of the young generations.
• No subordination or submission to a certain group.
• Emphasize on the humanitarian teachings and principles.
• Provide a base for manners, virtues and knowledge.
• Connect theory with practice.
• Improve performance skills through the focus on learning and apply that through practice.
• Respect and intolerance of other people opinions, teaching of democracy for kids.
• Teaching patriotism and the importance of respecting law.

13. STANDARDS OF THE CURRICULUM:
1) Achieving the curriculum goals of the desired knowledge level.
2) Achieving higher education goals such as success, graduating from university and an accomplished professional life.
3) Supported by the latest researches and keeping up with the modern technology.
4) Reflecting the national goals and requirements.
5) Considering and incorporating canons of conduct, moral education and the significance thereof.
6) Enabling the curriculum’s flexibility, viability of integration.
7) Utilizing modern materials and techniques
UNITY:
Syria is a united country with its lands and citizens.
Consequently, the Syrian curriculum shall be in concert internally and externally everywhere. It is not right to use one
curriculum in Turkey and another in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The same curriculum shall be used in every geography.

15. PARTICIPANTS
Yasser Dallal
Maritime and Transporting
Management Engineering
HayatSür Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı
Tawfek Hamod
A degree of Education
Management and Planning
MA in Educational Psychology
Dr. Mounzer Kabbani
Phd. Mathematics
Yahya Abdullah
Suriye Geçici Hükümet Tem./
Milli Eğitim Bakanlığından
Rasheed Shekho
PHD in History and
Historical Research
Sercan Taş
IMC
Sanggeet Mithra
European Stability Initiative
Moheddin Bananeh
PHd Civil Engineering
Mohmmed Saleh Al Zaher
French Language Degree,
Teachers Training Institute
Mustafa AlAsaad
English language degree,
Diploma of education
Mohamad Wardeh
Education Degree,
Teachers Training Institute
Kaya Heyse
Açık Toplum Vakfı
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Balcı
AB Delegasyonu Eğitim
Sektörü Yönetici
Mazen Rachid
Arabic and Islamic Studies,
Higher Studies
Prof. Dr. Hasan. Tuğrul
Eskişehir Üniversitesi
Öğretim Görevlisi
Hasan Darwish
Arabic Degree,
Diploma of Education
Abdul Rahman Namous
A director of scientific affairs
in Othman ben Affan Association
Hasan Taifour
Physics and
Chemistry Degree
Amer ALNMR
English language degree,
Diploma of management
Gassan Hamdan
Education Degree,
Teachers Training Institute
Erkut Emcioğlu
European Stability
Initiative

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