Syrian Refugee Children Missing Out of Education

In September 2014, the Turkish government adopted a policy that formally granted Syrian children access to public schools. However, according to the latest report by Human Rights Watch, around two-thirds of Syrian refugee children in Turkey are not attending school.

The key obstacles to these children accessing education include language barriers, social integration, economic hardship, and a lack of information about the policy and their rights.

Stephanie Gee, a Bernstein fellow in the refugee rights programme at Human Rights Watch said: “Failing to provide Syrian children with education puts an entire generation at risk.”

Turkey hosts more than two million Syrian refugees, including 708,000 school-aged children. More than 400,000 of them do not receive a formal education, according to this report.

While the enrolment rate of children in schools inside refugee camps was nearly 90 percent, most refugees live outside the camps, and only 25 percent of these school-age children were enrolled in school.

According to the report, providing education to all Syrian refugee children will reduce risks of early marriage, military recruitment of children by armed groups, and bring some stability to their future.

According to the UNHCR, there is a total of 4.2 million Syrian refugees, including 4 million children. In addition, there are 12.2 million internally displaced people within Syria, including 5.6 million children.

• Pray for Syrian refugees, especially for the children. Pray that they will have greater access to education and also health care that they need.
• Pray for Christians working amongst refugees, for compassion, grace and love to flow from the heart of Jesus to these desperate people.
• Pray for the children, a whole generation impacted by the war in Syria. Pray for healing, hope and life to flow from the Holy Spirit to these precious children.
• Pray for peace in Syria and across the Middle East.

Psalm 72 vs 4: “May He defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy”

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com