Turkey agreed with the European Union (EU) to provide an education for refugees entering their country.
Per Daily Sabah, “Turkey, the European Union and UNICEF have formally launched an EU-funded project aiming to encourage Syrians and other refugees in Turkey to enroll their children in schools and prevent them from dropping out.”
Parents are promised to be paid for keeping their children in school.
Fox News reports, “Under the program, officially inaugurated on Thursday, families are to receive conditional cash payments in return for sending and keeping their children in school.”
The amount given to the families sending their children to school is equal to $14 USD per month. This is to help with their children educational expenses.
Al-Fanar Media explains, “The Conditional Cash Transfer for Education program, implemented in partnership with UNICEF and the Turkish Red Crescent, will give families 50 Turkish lira ($14) per month for each student who regularly attends school, to help families with their children’s educational expenses.”
Since its announcement in Brussels, thousands upon thousands of children have been enrolled in schools in Turkey.
Daily Sabah states, “As many as 56,000 refugee children have been registered in the program since it was announced in Brussels in March. Authorities hope to reach 230,000 children by the end of the year.”
The European Union Commissioner said education is the best way for preventing children becoming radicalized.
Per Fox News, “Christos Stylianides, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, said: ‘education … is the best way to prevent lost generations, it is a strong shield against radicalization against forced recruitment and forced marriages.’”
The enrollment rate in Turkey is low as in other countries where Syrians are refugees.
Al-Fanar explains, “Only about 39 percent of school-age refugee children and adolescents were enrolled in primary and secondary education in Turkey, 40 percent in Lebanon, and 70 percent in Jordan, according to ‘Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis,’ a report by UNHCR. That means roughly 900,000 refugee children are not in school.”
Christian Aid is providing practical relief to refugees from Syria in Turkey such as medical care and even school supplies. In addition, they provide the hope of Christ.
Christian Aid reports, “‘Now they are on top of one another coming to our truck to receive a package of food to fill their present needs, and you’ve been the source of providing these needs,’” the director said of Christian Aid Mission and its donors. His ministry also supplies notebooks, books, pencils and other items needed for schooling for refugee children.”
Please pray for the Syrian refugees in Turkey, that they would be able to continue to get an education. Pray for Christian Aid, that they would be able to share Christ’s hope with the people of Turkey.
Fox News: Turkey, EU start project to keep refugee kids at schools
Al-Fanar Media: Program in Turkey Uses Cash to Encourage School Attendance
Christian Aid: Behind Desperate Pleas in Syria, Broken Families
