Ankara
Saleh is a 13-year-old Syrian refugee boy who has lived in the capital city Ankara for the past six years.
“My favorite course is mathematics. When I first came to Turkey, I did not know Turkish and I could not communicate with anybody.
My family had the cash transfer assistance from the EU and I began going to the school where I learned Turkish and began playing with my peers,” he told Arab News.
Saleh spends his evenings reading books in Turkish so he can develop his language skills and prepare for the high school that he is planning to attend in Turkey.
He is currently reading “Les Miserables” by French writer Victor Hugo. Saleh is also dreaming of becoming an artificial intelligence engineer.
“Sometimes, I am subjected to peer bullying and social exclusion by people who do not know me at all,” Saleh said.
“But my teacher warns such people and reminds them of the importance of cohesion. I also play chess at school, which helps me a lot in my social skills.”
He attends team activities and social projects that are organized by the UNICEF-supported Al-Farah Child and Family Support Center in Ankara.
It is funded by the EU to provide services to refugee children and their families and help them meet their basic needs, including legal and social counseling along with psycho-social support.
Turkey’s efforts to integrate nearly 700,000 Syrian refugee children into the education system have also been hailed by Brussels.
The head of the EU delegation to Turkey, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, said it was a “huge and unique success story” during his speech on Sept. 21 at a school opening ceremony in the southeastern Gaziantep province.
So far, the EU has provided financial assistance to nearly 400 schools across the country to support the training and employment of teachers as well as meet the operational costs.
Brussels earmarked nearly 3 billion euros ($3.34 billion) to Turkey under the Facility for Refugees program and about one-third of those funds are mainly allocated to the educational projects that promote the integration of Syrian kids into the Turkish education system.
The funds also go toward the construction and equipping of some 100 schools in provinces with a high concentration of Syrian refugees as well as cash transfers to families whose children regularly attend school.
Of the nearly 4 million Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey, 1.2 million are of school age.—Agencies
