Adnan, Age 6

Adnan starts 1st grade at a public school near Aleppo. Syrian primary education starts at age six and is compulsory and free for all youth. Adnan’s curriculum is very similar to that of his peers; curriculum is established on a national level by the Syrian Ministry of Education. Teachers at all levels in the Syrian system are required to have completed a four-year bachelor’s degree in order to teach. 1

21 hours of class/week

Adnan, Age 7

Adnan starts 2nd grade at the same school. His curriculum is similar to that of first grade.

21 hours of class/week

Adnan, Age 8

Adnan starts 3rd grade at the same school. 2011 sees the start of uprisings against the regime of Bashar al- Assad. 2 Adnan’s life in Aleppo is largely unchanged, though there is talk of war.

21 hours of class/week

Adnan, Age 11

By 2014, Adnan is able to start 4th grade at the Temporary Education Center in the camp. However, his family warns that they will have to leave soon; the camp is becoming crowded and his father wants to look for work in the city. In 2014, the Ministry of National Education issues a circular titled Educational Activities Targeting Foreigners,” which asserted the educational rights of foreigners and procedures for enrolling in public schools in Turkey. Part of the legal framework was specifically directed at Temporary Education Centers. Previously, many of the schools were outside of the control of the Turkish Ministry of Education, but the circular introduced new supervision and monitoring of the TECs by the Turkish government. 8

Education in Temporary Education Centers (TECs)

• As of March 2018, approximately 1,000 Turkish and 11,500 volunteer Syrian teachers in TECs. 9
• Teaching is entirely in Arabic.
• Teachers are volunteers and pay is sporadic, meager, and varies depending on the TEC. According to a March 2018 Grand National Assembly report, approximately 10,000 teachers receive a payment of 600 TL per month from a UNICEF-supported fund and the remaining teachers are supported by NGOs. 10
• Typically, these schools are not free and charge some form of a fee to students.
• TEC classrooms are largely beyond the purview or oversight of the Turkish Ministry of Education — quality of education varies widely depending on the camp.
• Curriculum, as much as is possible, follows Syrian standards.
• Lack of infrastructure and basic supplies is a major barrier.
• At the end of each year, students are given a certificate with attendance and achievement. At least in Turkey, the certificate has questionable validity. 11

20 hours of class/week

Adnan, Age 12

Adnan and his family move out of the container city to the nearby city of Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey. This move from camp to city is similar to many Syrian refugees in Turkey; by 2019, only 3.85% of 3,651,635 refugees are housed in camps. 12 Because Adnan arrived in Turkey in 2012, just after the Turkish government solidified its Temporary Protection framework, he was able to be registered. All Syrian children must have a Temporary Protection Beneficiary Identification Card in order to attend school, get a diploma, or graduate. 13 In Gaziantep, Adnan is registered to attend the Turkish lower secondary public school with other 5th graders.

Education in Public Schools 14

• Managed by local school administrators. Typically, one deputy administrator is assigned to education of Syrian students at that particular school.
• Syrian teachers are unable to work in public schools.
• Up until 2014, it was illegal for Turkish teenage girls to cover their hair at school. In 2014, the ban was lifted for girls in the 5th grade and up. 15
• Turkish schools are not separated by gender.
• Language of instruction entirely in Turkish, with English, French, or German taught as foreign languages. 16
• 12 years of compulsory education: primary (1-4), lower secondary (5-8), and upper secondary (9-12)

30 hours of class/week

Adnan, Age 13

Before the start of the 2016-2017 school year, the Turkish Ministry of National Education announces a plan to integrate all Syrian children into Turkish public schools, phasing out Temporary Education Centers completely by 2020. That September, TECs were not accepting first, fifth, or ninth graders, forcing them to enroll in public schools. 17 7th grader Adnan was already at public schools, but he is one of few. By 2019 in Gaziantep, there will be major overcrowding issues and a need for new infrastructure. In Adnan's school of 1650 children, 742 (45%) are Syrian. 18

30 hours of class/week

Adnan, Age 14

Adnan starts 7th grade. By 2017, there are 425 Temporary Education Centers in Turkey. In 2018, this number will drop to 318. 19 The Turkish government is planning to shut many of them down; the EU’s Promoting Integration of Syrian Children into Turkish Education System project has contributed 300 million Euro for increasing quality of education and 200 million Euro for school construction. 20 Ultimately, they hope to integrate Syrian students into the Turkish public school system.

30 hours of class/week

Adnan, Age 15

At 15, Adnan starts 8th grade, two years behind his classmates. In 8th grade, he is enrolled in “History of the Republic of Turkey and Atatürk’s Principles,” a course that he struggles with while his Turkish classmates are relatively prepared. 21

30 hours of class/week

Starting in 2016, 1st, 5th, and 9th graders were required to register at Turkish public schools. Undoubtedly, some students dropped out of school rather than register for the public school — this could be due, among other things, to language barriers, lack of viable transportation options to get to school, resistance on the part of the parents, or need for another source of income to make ends meet. In 2017, according to the most recent statistics, enrollment at public schools surpassed that of TECs for the first time since 2011. As the Turkish government closes camps and TECs, with 6 of 19 camps closed in 2017 as a result of austerity measures, the number of Syrian refugees in public schools will continue to grow.

Adnan, Age 16

Adnan starts high school at a public Turkish high school in Gaziantep. High school in Turkey is far more challenging than middle school – he is enrolled in 9 different classes and the hours in class per week increase from 30 to 40. Starting in 9th grade, high schoolers in Turkey begin preparing for the Student Selection and Placement System, also known as the Öğrenci Seçme ve Yerleştirme Sistemi (ÖSYS), which means that teachers are increasingly focused on testing and preparing their students for the exams. 22 23 Adnan is worried that he might have to repeat 9th grade, a common occurrence for his Syrian friends.

40 hours of class/week