Education Assessment of Syrian Refugee Children

Education Assessment of Syrian Refugee Children

Introduction

According to the recent report by agencies concerned with the welfare and wellbeing of refugees, there are close to more than 4 million refugee children who are out of school since they cannot access the opportunity to learn. The number tends to be increasing with over half a million per year, and this situation might worsen if enough measures and remedies are not put into place.  The studies suggest that out of all the refugee, only 61% of the number can attend primary education as compared to the global figures of 92%. During the aging process of these children, the obstacles to acquiring education become complex and more and more cannot access education. The figures for those who can attend secondary education are a paltry 23% as compared to the global figure of 84%. This is a significant drop in the number, and it is only proof of how the situation is desperate. Acquiring higher education for these students ios way above critical levels as it is at only one percent compared to the global figure of 37%.

Globally, out of the 19.9 million refugees that are recognized by the agency, close to half of that are of schooling going age; however, their access to education is denied or limited. Close to 5 million are thus unable to attend school at any point in their lives.  According to the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, education is an acritical element that should be put into consideration in matters of response to the needs of refugees. The United Nations Goal 4 aims to deliver quality education for all regardless of status by the year 2030. The aim of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees is to ensure that sustainable partnerships have been set and established by the government with other agencies all with the aim of ensuring that no refugee is left behind in matters of education and access to it. Education being a basic right to all, ensures that the refugees are protected from child labor, sexual exploitation or child marriage or even human trafficking for forced recruitment into military groups.  It is a tool for them to empower themselves and build skills that can be used to compete in the modern world.

Narrowing further,  more than 200,000 refugees in school in Lebanon, 150,000 of them are attending double shifts schools, and this leaves almost the same figure out of school. Less than 10% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are going to secondary school. The greatest barrier for these school going children is the language of instruction whicvh, in this case, is either English or French. The Reachiung, All Children with Education program, is a nice initiative but its progress is affected by the lack of enough resources to deal with the overwhelming number of 440,000 by the period 2020-2021. Although this is possible and attainable, it is going to require the input of other stakeholders as well.

In Jordan, more than 130,000 refugee children in the school going age (5-18) was engaged in formal education by the end of 2017. The majority of these were in double shifts schools, and this leaves more than 120,000 children out of school. It is also important to acknowledge that more than 100,000 of children in the school going age are in informal schooling. Although Jordan had developed an education program for children in 2017; the program has been affected by the economic crisis in the country. In the beginning, more than 49,000 families had been supported as compared to the current figure of fewer than 12,000 families. The situation in Jordan has been handled by the United Nations, and other institutions of goodwill. UNICEF notes that more than 68% of Syrian children who are currently not engaged in school used to be informal schooling centers and this situation has been changed because of economic hardships, academic imperatives, and other social factors. Schooling issue in Jordan has proved to be complex and challenging, and all resources must be available to make education a possibility for tens of thousands of schooling age refugees children. The high rates of poverty among refugees in Jordan and the challenges that come with that have greatly affected education. More than 85% of Syrian refugee children live below the poverty line, while the Annual Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian refugees reveals that more than 62 % of the total households live in extreme poverty. This is a worrying situation especially if education is in the context.

The Turkish government has been focusing on the education of the refugees. Most Syrian refugees have been integrated into the Turkish education system; this has been done by reworking the Temporary Protection Regulation that granted free access to education for Syrian refugees. Since it has been challenging for the children to transition to public school system the government accredited the Temporary Education Centers that accommodate Syrian teachers and this will enable them to transition into the Turkish Public School System with ease. However, the input of the Turkish government does not make it super smooth as there are other few challenges crippling education for the Syrian refugees.

In Iraq, more than 247,000 refugees are registered with the UNHCR with a majority of them in the Kurdistan region. There is more than 65,000 registered school going children who cannot be able to access formal education. Most children in the region have been engaging in non-formal education through the assistance of education stakeholders and partners. The biggest challenge is that the majority of these children cannot use Kurdish, which is the language of instruction in this region. More than 37 % of refugees in Kurdistan are below the poverty line with more than 40% being under the age of 18 years and this proves the need for educational opportunities is still high.

Complexities of Education in Emergencies

Provision of education for refugees is a tough and complex topic that requires more than goodwill and planning. Preparing the refugees to access education is one step and ensuring that the quality is maintained and that equity is checked is also important and requires efforts. The introduction of strategies by the neighboring countries to help the refugees get an education is commendable; however, the high numbers that are not accessing education is still making the situation desperate and needy. It is therefore prudent to take urgent action before the matter goes out of hand and control. Questions on the issues of access to education include whether the refugees should be allowed to follow the host’s country curriculum or should parallel systems be set for refugees. The aforementioned options would require a vast investment in resources, and no single country is willing to do that without the goodwill and assistance of the global community.

Implementing long term solutions on this will require the United Nations to get involved in the issue. In as much the United Nations advocates for refugees to be integrated into the national education systems, it is important to understand that this would require a consolidated approach that will even build cohesion between the refuges and the host communities. The issues of integration are the most sustainable option in this case, and it’s adopting would heavily depend on many parameters.

The Value of Education for Syrian Refugee Children

Providing children with educational opportunities has many reasons some humanitarian, others economic and others social. However, to create a sustainable ecosystem and globe, it is important to equip all children regardless of their status with an education that can make them reliable, dependable and build strong communities around themselves. Providing educational opportunities for children in emergencies is as important as bringing relief in such a situation because it is the only way that you can eradicate and reduce the mishappenings that take place at such a time. Education for such kids is not only mean to give them than basic literacy skills, numeracy, and other crucial skills; it is also meant to restore hope to them, provide them with encouragement, aspirations and a safe environment for them to grow up and overcome future challenges. Studies reveal that children with no education are more likely to be at risk of child labor, early marriages, exploitation, and extremism. Failing to provide such children with an education is detrimental to the future of the host countries and the world at large.

Recommendations to deal with the issues affecting refugee children can only be addressed by creating sustainable models that can work depending on the situation at the ground. In this regards, providing livelihood support including working permits and broader employment opportunities for the refugees, language support systems, catch up programs and reducing the transition barriers will greatly help in containing the situation as it currently is at. Building stronger and inclusive societies in the near future will greatly be dependant on how the international agencies, governments, and other stakeholders are taking upon the issue of refugees globally.

Economic Theory

The refugee question is believed to have many implications on the economy of the host nations and further it can be discussed using several approaches. In as much political instability, social, civil strife and economic hardships are to blame for the refugee’s situation globally it is important to understand how it has effects on labor, productivity, economic growth and progress, human development index, quality of life and many other aspects. On the other hand, a country that does not solve the problems brought by refugees could in a way be initiating a social problem and pressure on existing structures. In terms of economic policing and planning it is important to create institutions, that can deal with the influx of refugees and create a contingency fund that can be used to ease the burden on the citizenry. Helping the refugees integrate into the host country’s community will not only help the country progress economically butt will also in a great way to reduce wastage of resources. Building resilient societies that can be able to accommodate changes in the social structure is a great way of building a robust economy as well. In as much as we focus on building our respective countries, it is high time we looked into the issue of refugees because with it many gains can be made for the whole globe

 

Literature Review

According to @  the situation of refugees seems to get overwhelming over the years and with the many cases of countries becoming unstable it is important for long term solutions to be found. @ reveals that in 2017 alone the refugees’ agency reported that around the globe there were almost 70 million individuals who had been displaced forcefully. Forty million of these are internally displaced because of civil strife, political turmoil or other factors. Out of these, 25.4 million are refugees and close to 3.2 million are asylum seekers. The situation on the number of children who do not go to school is worrying for Syria. Studies conducted by @ reveal that Syrian refugees account for more than 6 million of all refugees globally and this shows that the situation is dire for them. The refugees who are accounted for are spread across Turkey with the country hosting 3.5 million, 1 million in Lebanon and close to 660,000 in Jordan @ Egypt and Iraq host smaller numbers at 125,000 and 250,000 0f the total figure. The number of refugees from Syria who are in school going age (5-18) across Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are at 240,000, 390,000 and 1036,000 respectively. The numbers might have disparities with a few more refugees not accounted for @

In the words of @ children under the age of 5 years are at 102,000, 154,000 and 535,000 in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey respectively.in the neighboring countries the situation is alarming and desperate as approximately 40% percent of the school-aged children are out of school. While these numbers are an estimation depending on the available data, the figures might be higher @ In general, approximately 2/5 of all school-aged Syrian refugee children are out of school and more than one-fifth of the remainder not accessing quality education at all.  In as much as the situation is still calling for more aggressive and dedicated measures, @ believes that refugees are entitled to education as stipulated by the Convention Relation to the Status of Refugees of 1951. According to @  the UN Sustainable Development Goals,  are set out to ensure that all children should gain access to inclusive and quality education regardless of where they come from. For these goals to be met and these statutes to make sense to the world, it is important to ensure that increased funding and cooperation is needed as @ suggests. Stakeholders from the national government, international institutions the civil society and the local communities have dedicated themselves to finding a solution for refugees education as @ explains and this is set to change the dynamics and improve their well being over the next few years. According to @  the International Network for Education in Emergencies was created to ensure that the growing needs to improving coordination Aand provision of quality education among the refugees’ communities are achieved without much pressure on the existing social and political structures. The existence of many barriers that are facing refugees across the world is in a significant way of pushing agencies to change their perspectives on how to facilitate refugees education. According to @ the value of education and how it contributes to the society is entering the humanitarian debate, it has not been established on how this can impact the quality of education that refugees get in the host nations. Putting up a range of educational opportunities for refugee children can be done at any point in their education, but this has to be bolstered by the willingness to deal with factors that can affect the quality of education. In the words of @ provision for educational facilities can be made in the refugee’s camps and the urban areas. Implementing policies and programs for refugees education is an important prerequisite in creating sustainable education for the refugees. Based on the insights provided by @ considering an adequate curriculum that can be followed by the refugees, the language to be used, transportation costs ans logistics, accreditation and qualifications are among the most vital tools that can be used in this regards.  @ believes that non-formal education programs can also be a substitute and a compliment into what is being offered by the school systems. For most school going children, this would be a great way to help the refugee children integrate into the educational systems of the respective host nations. Creating flexible and tailored programs to children is a significant way to help them overcome the barriers that come with learning.

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Methodology

International strategists and economic planners believe that developing good and robust policies will not in any way change the economic position of a country more sustained change are allowed to happen at all levels. In most cases, such economic changes on the positive are only experienced when civil and social institutions that are in place are allowed to thrive na provide guidance into dealing with the changes. Since sustainable development is not an outcome of single processes and activities, it is important to allow social, political and economic processes interact with the whole ecosystem in a positive way so that achievement, growth, and stability can be facilitated with ease. Generation and creation of opportunities and the lobbying of change at all levels that can help spur good initiatives need to be ensured at all costs. Understanding the socioeconomic atmosphere and the dynamics underpinning economic development and the course of actions that need to be taken at all levels of governments and even at the international level as well.

Studying the causes and effects of poverty and the prevalence of low-income families and communities around the world is a role that development economics seeks to understand and provide answers to. Understanding the economic cycles and what would ins[pire slowdowns is also an important role in economic studies. Overall these factors, it is not easy to understand how the lack of basic education on people would affect their economic development or create a long-lasting impact on poverty. According to @ economic studies seeks to understand how to improve policy design in a way that individuals, regions, and countries can achieve greater economic prosperity without slowing social progress.

The existence of functioning social institutions like families, the local community, the rule of law and infrastructure and institutions can be defined as the most important prerequisite for economic prosperity, development, and growth to be achieved. Countries doing well economically are believed to have strong social structures that cannot be filtered by civil and social strife. Most development programs and policies can only thrive with the existence of a strong social fabric that is built on values. The challenges faced by Syria and many other countries with refugee crisis can only be solved if the role of education is not ignored or underrated. Many problems like the ones that are experienced in a country like Syria are as a result of the country failing to adapt to new practices, technology, the lack of political goodwill to community resources, embezzlement of funds and lack of adequate policies that can safeguard gains made by the country. For development projects to become achievable both in the long term and short term, there is need to establish a harmonious working relationship between the relevant institutions and the stakeholders who are involved in championing economic an social change. In most instances, the communities involved in matters of education more for the unfortunate children have also developed mechanisms that if supported can deliver results and significantly impact social change and spur economic development.

The fact that significant portions of the citizens and populations in countries like Syria and other developing countries mean that they cannot be able to afford quality education greatly affects the output and productivity in many ways. The choices they make especially on how to acquire their education, how to spend and where to spend might be influenced by the fact that they do not have dedicated infrastructure and as a result, this affects their level of income. Most of these populations do not have an income to attain basic needs like food, shelter, clothing as well as quality health and education. The most compromised of this is education as most populations find it not important for survival. Worse enough the lack of human assets, financial assets and physical assets for a majority of these individuals means that they are not able to invest and this inhibits economic growth. Lack of aging security means that a majority of them are affected by abject poverty in their old age.

Identifying how the interpersonal dimension of economic activity can be identified and converted and incorporated into economic theory and impact is an important aspect in today’s world. Aligning the societal goals and the educational needs can be done through ensuring inclusion and the structures that exist at all levels. Acknowledging the measuring impact and how this can influence economic decisions on a community level is enough to help inform on the nature of decisions to make on education and social welfare for a majority of the citizens. Understanding the needs of human beings at all stages could provide an important insight into how to achieve long-lasting solutions for refugees children and communities. Changing the perceptions of the refugees, their attitudes and their way of thinking could be a solution to most challenges that they face in education, economic wise and socially.

Conclusions

The issue of refugees children and their quest for knowledge through learning institutions is one that cannot be taken in a light manner. Achieving growth, stability and eradicating poverty across the world requires governments and agencies to consider factors that can deny the disadvantaged groups te opportunities to progress themselves. Promoting social and political stability for man countries might be seen as a simplistic approach, but in a significant way, this can reduce the number of refugees and at the same time help in improving the current standards and quality of education. The question on which system of education refugees need to adapt and become conversant with is a timely question. According to most agencies, the United Nations included, refugees, need to adopt the curriculum of the host nations. Assessing educational needs for refugees is important on a humanitarian, economic and social level as this is the only way to create a long lasting solution to the ever-increasing number of refugees ans internally displaced persons. Based on the recent studies, developing enough mechanisms to deal with the menace of refugees and lobbying for enough resources for host nations will in a significant way to reduce the pressure that is put on such nations. Nations that have been left alone to deal with the refugee’s question have proved to show disinterest and hostility to the refugees, and I believe that providing guidance, support and a platform to partner will significantly reduce the cases in host countries.

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