Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children. Refugees exist in an in-between space in society. Once granted the status of refugee, they

Transcription

1 Smith 1 History 391: Research Project November 22, 2016 Amasa Smith Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children Refugees exist in an in-between space in society. Once granted the status of refugee, they obtain certain legal rights and protections not offered to immigrants. At the same time, refugees often do not have the right to work and live as citizens or even as immigrants are able to in their new country. They face restrictions of movement, work and education as well as an uncertain legal status, which makes it difficult to establish long-term plans or integrate into a new culture. Refugees often experience othering by members of the dominant society or even by immigrants. Governments and NGOs alike attempt to categorize refugees and their experiences to fit into their preconceived ideas and narratives about refugees. The UN officially defines a refugee as Any person who is outside the country of his nationality because he has or had well-founded fear of persecution by reason of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion and is unable or, because of such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of the government of the country of his nationality. 1 This definition narrows the breadth of who can be categorized as a refugee. In addition, it requires an individual to prove that his or her fear is well-founded, which often depends not on the actual threat the refugee is facing, but rather on social and geopolitical factors in a receiving country. Refugees site education as a key component to their integration in a new country, but also as a important factor to aide in normalizing their lives and their long-term success. The most 1 Zolberg, Aristide R. Suhrke, Astri and Aguayo, Sergio. Escape from Violence: Conflict and Refugee Crisis in the Developing World. Cary, US: Oxford University Press (US), 1989, 3.

2 Smith 2 important thing in my life is education. Knowledge is light and ignorance is darkness, says Bara'a, a ten year old Syrian refugee now living in a refugee camp in Lebanon. 2 Many children reiterate this same sentiment and discuss their longing to go back to school and learn. School systems in receiving countries and makeshift schools in camps struggle to handle both the sheer number of refugees arriving as well as the challenges of teaching children who have experienced trauma, are not integrated and potentially do no know the language. Academics express their concern that this mass refugee crisis and the interruptions in education many children are experiencing will lead to a lost generation. This project will first examine historically what the barriers to education have been for refugees and then ask what are the barriers refugees are facing in this current refugee crisis? Also it will address these questions by looking at academic literature in the historical context of refugee education, and through analyzing recent reports on the refugee crisis will compare these sources with first-person accounts from refugees themselves through newspaper articles and oral histories of their experiences with education. It will focus on the barriers to education in countries surrounding Syria who are receiving the greatest influx of refugees. The conflict in Syria has been called the biggest humanitarian catastrophe of this century. 3 It began as a dispute between the Bashar al Assad government and dissenting Syrian civilians in Peaceful demonstrations were met by a violent and brutal response from government forces which escalated the conflict to a full-fledge civil war by mid The UN was concerned about the Syrian government s treatment of its citizens, but was prevented from taking any action by Russia and China, permanent members of the security 2 Growing Up Without an Education: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon, UNHCR, July Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights During Extraordinary Crises

3 Smith 3 council who sided with Assad. 4 An increase in violence in the past five years has caused a huge disruption in the education of most children in Syria. Prior to the civil war, access to basic education was free, and more than 90% of primary age students were enrolled one of the highest rates in the Middle East. 5 Schools are protected under international human rights law as a safe space, but this law has not been upheld in the Syrian conflict. Schools have been directly targeted and shelled There has been no school for two years. Because of this, my son missed his baccalaureate, and my daughter missed her 11th grade. It s too dangerous to go too school they are being shelled, 6 says Um Ali, a mother of three. According to a 2013 UNICEF report, approximately 30% of refugee children are registered for school, leaving hundreds of thousands not in school. This percentage is likely inflated considering that the number of refugees only includes those formally registered as a refugee. Surrounding countries are attempting to accommodate this influx of refugees, but they are overwhelmed with the large number as well as the different needs of refugees. 7 Despite the importance of education to refugees, as a group they are highly likely to face more education obstacles. 8 These obstacles to schooling can include language, cultural, financial and legal barriers. Generally, refugees are enrolled in school at much lower rates than the global average. The gross enrollment rate for refugee children in camps enrolled in primary school was 76% 4 Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights During Extraordinary Crises 5 Nick Martlew, Childhood Under Fire: The Impact of Two Years of Conflict in Syria, Save the Children, 2013, Nick Martlew, Childhood Under Fire: The Impact of Two Years of Conflict in Syria, Save the Children, 2013, Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights During Extraordinary Crises 8 Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights During Extraordinary Crises 717

4 Smith 4 compared to the global rate of 90%. There is even a larger disparity in secondary school with only 36% of refugee children enrolled compared to 67% globally. 9 According to the United Nations High Council for Refugees (UNHCR,) the accessibility to education for refugees depends on a variety of factors: supply, demand, exclusion along with individual characteristics, discrimination in policies and practices, refugee governance and the security situation. 10 The quality of education is measured by the UNHCR Education Strategy , which utilizes three methods to quantify the quality of education in camps: first, the student teacher ratio with a goal of 40:1; second, the percentage of trained teachers, with a goal of 80%; third, if the refugees educational qualifications are recognized. Reports show that often these goals are not met. For example many camps report much higher student-teacher ratios, and levels of training are not universal. At a minimum, teachers with as little as ten days of training can be considered qualified. 11 When education is available, frequently the quality is lacking. Clearly, there are inconsistencies in refugee education, and many refugee children are still receiving inadequate education or no education at all. What are countries obligations to provide non-citizens with an education? International law indicates that education is an important right for children. The right to education is focused on in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, International Convent on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The ICESCR goes farther than UNHCR to include the right to free primary education and secondary education that is accessible and available to everyone. Together these international conventions and declarations conclude that education can help to create a level of 9 Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Refugee Education: A Global Review, UNHCR, Nov 2011, Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Refugee Education: A Global Review, UNHCR, Nov 2011, Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Refugee Education: A Global Review, UNHCR, Nov 2011, 30-31

5 Smith 5 stability and normalcy in refugees lives. If educated refugees return to their country of origin and continue their education, they bring with them more knowledge and skills and can assist with development and with increasing the standard of living in their home country. This can lead to stability and peace in the long-term. 12 The right to education has become increasingly important to the UNHCR which decrees that access to education is the basic right of any person, even perhaps especially in times of acute emergencies 13 Through the right to education, other rights are realized and made available to refugees. Even though the right to education is recognized by multiple international conventions and is a priority of the UNHCR, there is no real capacity to enforce countries to provide education to refugees, let alone determine the quality of that education. 14 According to a 2016 UNICEF report, the number of Syrian refugee children has quadrupled from 520,348 in 2013 to 2.4 million in A total of 2.8 million children are no longer in school, 2.1 million within Syria and an estimated 700,000 in neighboring countries. That is almost half of children eligible to go to school in Syria who not able to access education. Six-thousand schools have been destroyed over the course of the conflict. If students do not return to school, this will cost the world an esteemed $10.7 billion dollars in human capital. 16 The vast majority of these refugees have fled to the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, which now is home to over half of all Syria refugees. 12 Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights During Extraordinary Crises 13 Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights During Extraordinary Crises Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Refugee Education: A Global Review, UNHCR, Nov 2011, 9 15 No Place for Children: The Impact of Five Years of War on Syria s Children and their Childhoods UNICEF (March 2016): No Place for Children: The Impact of Five Years of War on Syria s Children and their Childhoods UNICEF (March 2016): 10.

6 Smith 6 Refugee children can register free of charge for public school in Lebanon, yet Lebanon has the lowest school enrollment rate of the top five countries who host Syrian refugees. In Lebanon refugees must have documentation to receive public services, even children must have a birth certificate. Lack of documentation limits their ability to access healthcare and education. 17 Over half of the Syrian refugee children do not attend school due to fees, distance, capacity of schools or legal requirements such as those listed above. 18 There is, however a clear commonality within refugees accounts and that is the desire for eduction. I like school. I like to read.it s the most important thing, 19 says Wael, who is thirteen years old. His mother initially enrolled him in school, but could not afford to continue to keep them in school. Nawfal, also thirteen, agrees with this sentiment. I miss my school. I never missed a day of school in Syria. I miss my books the most. I miss reading. 20 In Lebanon he is not attending school, but plays in dirt and rubbish with other children who are not attending school near his temporary home in Beka a Valley. Another young Syrian boy describes how he attended school everyday in Syria and wishes to attend in Lebanon as well. He lives across the street from a school, which he would be able to attend except that his family cannot afford the additional cost. Instead he sells gum to help supplement his parents income. 21 Ahmed faces similar difficulties. In order to continue his education, he would have to travel an hour and a half a day to a school and pay in U.S. currency about $33 a month to attend, 17 O'Rourke, Joseph. "Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights during Extraordinary Crises." Albany Law Review 78, no. 2 (Dec 22, 2014): Growing Up Without an Education: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon. UNHCR. (July 2016). 19 Growing Up Without an Education: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon. UNHCR. (July 2016). 20 Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis, UNISEF, Sept 2016, Growing Up Without an Education: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon. UNHCR. (July 2016).

7 Smith 7 which his family cannot afford. In addition, Ahmed s papers, which he is required to have as a child over the age of 15, are expired. In order to renew them, he must have an ID which he can only get in Syria. Until he has an ID and can renew his papers, he cannot attend school and runs the risk of arrest. The requirements for attending school in Lebanon are not universal, creating different barriers depending on the school. One mother reported that [The principle] told me to go back to Syria for vaccination records, which is not an actual requirement of the Syrian government. 22 These additional legal requirements, whether valid or not, add burdensome barriers for refugees, who do not have the knowledge of the school system or often the language to navigate these challenges. These stories have exemplified the economic, geographic and legal barriers refugees face and help to explain why only half of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon attend school. On the other hand, Mohammad represents the Syrian children who are receiving education in Lebanon and succeeding. Mohammad was in Lebanon a year before he returned to school. His parents were insistent that their children continue their educations. Now enrolled in public school, Mohammad has become a top student in his class. He views his education as essential to his and Syria s future. You must learn and study to have your place in society and to have knowledge about everything because we will need to rebuild Syria one day. 23 According to one report, in Turkey, which hosts the majority of Syrian refugees, 60% of children were enrolled in primary school in refugee camps and a lower percentage of refugee children were enrolled outside of camps. The government has spent two billion dollars to assist with the influx of refugees, but they only expect to see a continuing increase in the numbers, and 22 Growing Up Without an Education: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon. UNHCR. (July 2016). 23 Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis, UNISEF, Sept 2016, 13.

8 Smith 8 the country is running out of resources. 24 A mother reports that she has..tried to enroll them in Turkish schools, but we are turned away, the few private schools for Syrian kids are full. 25 She encourages them to continue to study what they can on their own, but she considers making the dangerous trip to Europe, so her daughters would have the chance for a real education. Turkey has opened some new schools to help accommodate the increase in students, yet need for more schools still remains. One report attributes the low level of school enrollments and lack of accessibility to the difficulty of finding free schools that teach Arabic. 26 A teacher at a school in Turkey summed up the complexity of factors which can be barriers to education. Even if these children have a right to study, they are prevented to go to school for many reasons such as structural problems, having an interrupted or no education in their countries of origin, language barriers, mismatch of the content of education here and what they had before, financial difficulties preventing families to send their children to school and these children's particular psychological states. Even if they come to school, they fail because of all these adverse conditions. 27 Countries are making an effort to educate Syrian refugee children, but they simply cannot keep up with the influx. Since neighboring middle eastern countries are in need of more funds, teachers and facilities, it is difficult to address other key aspects of refugee education. The majority of the reports cited above presented low rates of school registration among Syrian refugees in neighboring countries. They attributed these rates primarily to overcrowding and economic barriers; however, the accounts from refugees also 24 Joseph O Rourke, "Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights during Extraordinary Crises, Albany Law Review, 78, no. 2, Dec 22, 2014, Dettmer, Jamie, For most refugee kids, school remains elusive dream, Lanham: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc, Nov Joseph O Rourke, "Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights during Extraordinary Crises, Albany Law Review, 78, no. 2, Dec 22, 2014, B. D. Seker, & I. Sirkeci,, Challenges for Refugee Children at School in Eastern Turkey, Economics & Sociology, 8, no. 4, 2015,

9 Smith 9 attribute them to legal barriers and restriction either by the state or individual schools that the reports do not delve into. For whatever the reason, these barriers to education are pushing some refugees to undertake the dangerous journey to Europe with the hope that their children can receive education there. One mother Anin states, We left Turkey because they wouldn t let me register them [her children] for school, and now we are stuck here [Greece] and they still can t go to school. Look at my children in Germany. They are going to school now. 28 Europe is not a universal answer either. European countries may have more resources, but the treatment of refugees and availability of education varies among countries, and they face the same dilemmas of quality of education and training of teachers. There are several steps that need to be taken to ensure the education of Syrian refugees. The most immediate need is for more funding and resources in order for school systems to be able to handle the large influx of students. These resources would go toward expanding schools, creating new schools closer to where refugees are living, hiring more teachers who have more training and creating programs to help refugees. Secondly, the instruction teachers receive must include training for teaching language, incorporating refugee children into the classroom and handling the unique challenges that come with educating refugee children. For example, it is important that teachers understand the psychological trauma children may be suffering, are aware of what actions and behaviors might stem from this trauma and know how to provide this child with assistance. This issue is larger than simply increasing the number of Syrian children enrolled in school, but also changing the way we handle refugee education on a global level. At the Denison panel, we could see refugees and immigrants alike face some of these challenges. The experience of children in school and their treatment by their professors play a crucial role in 28 Trapped in Europe: Dignity Denied, Women s Link Worldwide.

10 Smith 10 their lives and futures. Increasing the accessibility to school and the quality of this schooling is essential so that a lost generation of Syrians is not created. Providing these children with education will help them become contributing citizens in their new country, and hopefully in time will aide in the stability and development of Syria.

11 Smith 11 Bibliography Dettmer, Jamie. For most refugee kids, school remains elusive dream. Lanham: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. (Nov. 2015). Dryden-Peterson, Sarah. Refugee Education: A Global Review. UNHCR (Nov 2011): Trapped in Europe: Dignity Denied. Women s Link Worldwide. Growing Up Without an Education: Barriers to Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon. UNHCR. (July 2016). Martlew, Nick. Childhood Under Fire: The Impact of Two Years of Conflict in Syria. Save the Children. (2013): Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis UNISEF. (Sept 2016): No Place for Children: The Impact of Fives Year of War on Syria s Children and their Childhoods. UNICEF (March 2016): O'Rourke, Joseph. "Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights during Extraordinary Crises." Albany Law Review 78, no. 2 (Dec 22, 2014): Seker, B. D., & Sirkeci, I. Challenges for Refugee Children at School in Eastern Turkey. Economics & Sociology, 8, no. 4 (2015): / X.2015/8-4/9