TURKEY: Turkish authorities provide schooling for Syrian refugee children

Record ID: 276321

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkish authorities provide schooling for Syrian refugee children
  • Date: 30th November 2011
  • Summary: HATAY, TURKEY (RECENT) (REUTERS) CHILDREN AND TEACHER IN CLASSROOM TEACHER WRITING ON BOARD VARIOUS OF STUDENTS VARIOUS OF SYRIAN STUDENT MUSTAFA ABBAS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN STUDENT MUSTAFA ABBAS SAYING: "We've met lots of people, we didn't used to know anybody, now we know lots of people from Deir al-Joz, from Jableh, from Khirbet al-Jozeh, now we know lots of
  • Embargoed: 15th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics,Education
  • Reuters ID: LVABHTC3YXEAHD89OYG1GLWZ1WMF
  • Story Text: Turkey has set aside teachers and classrooms to provide an education for many of the displaced Syrian children who have fled the bloody unrest in their country.
    In Hatay province, a panhandle of Turkish territory jutting south along the Mediterranean coast towards Syria, more than 2,000 Syrian children are receiving schooling provided by the Turkish Ministry of Education.
    Pre-school, primary and secondary classes in Arabic are run in the tented communities that house the Syrian refugees as well as in local schools.
    The pupils have the opportunity to continue their education in Arabic, art, sciences and maths.
    In one primary school in Hatay, a Syrian boy said that the resumption of his schooling has helped him make friends and begin to learn Turkish.
    "We've met lots of people, we didn't used to know anybody, now we know lots of people from Deir al-Joz, from Jableh, from Khirbet al-Jozeh, now we know lots of people. When we first got to Turkey, we didn't know anyone, we couldn't speak the language, we didn't know anything, we used to sit in the house without moving, without going in or out. Now we know Turkish and we come and go," said Mustafa Abbas.
    Another boy, Radwan Hamoudi, was also grateful for the chance to learn.
    "We came to Turkey because we were dispersed by Bashar al-Assad. Here -- God keep our teachers -- they opened a school for us, and we're studying in it. It's good, it's better than sitting at home without learning anything," said Abbas.
    Turkey, which shares a 910 km (570 mile) border with Syria, has lambasted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, which has severely damaged ties between the two former allies.
    Turkey is considering imposing economic sanctions on Assad's government, as some countries have already done. Many Syrians have defied the Syrian military crackdown to keep up demands for change, despite bloodshed which the United Nations says has cost some 3,500 lives -- as well as those of 1,100 soldiers and police, according to the Syrian government.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
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