Each student would agree that it is challenging to get a degree and become a specialist. And it is even more challenging to accomplish this goal if a person gets to a foreign country where everything is unfamiliar and time is needed for adaptation. Millions of Syrian refugees have got into this uneasy situation. Statistics show that only 1% of displaced young people acquire higher education. Others are devoid of career prospects, doomed to have low-paid jobs with unfavorable working conditions. The world community is concerned about addressing this humanitarian crisis. Experts from amblesideprimary.com invite you to consider the main educational problems of refugees and ways to solve them.
Is the current response effective?
There are organizations and activists drawing society’s attention to the problems of refugees. Apart from the need for food, housing, medical care, they emphasize the importance of higher education, possible long-term effects of disorganization in this area. Even though much work was done to support Syrian academics and students, all these actions are not enough to address the issue. The enormous scale of the crisis pushes the world community to more decisive actions.
Several thousands of grants and scholarships were given to Syrians, while there are more than 100 thousand university-qualified refugees. We have a huge gap between demand and opportunity. This means that most displaced people should forget their lofty dreams about career building and full, successful life. The situation is complicated by the fact that many Syrians do not have documents needed to enroll in universities and participate in scholarship programs. From the juridical point of view, they are still Syrian citizens who can study and work only in Syria. It is at least necessary to have a travel visa to acquire a degree in Western countries.
Why is it so difficult for refugees to receive an education?
Experts explain the opportunity gap by the fact that the Syrian crisis has made the whole world shudder. There was no country prepared for a refugee inflow. Significant relief work was conducted to save people’s lives, ensure that they have food and housing. At the first stages, nobody was thinking about academic issues. After all, a person can live without a degree, while this is impossible without satisfying physical needs.
States had to act quickly and decisively. There was no time for planning curricula and modeling the most favorable learning conditions. It is worth remembering that higher education is not something that can be managed in haste. It needs a profound analysis and thoughtful approach.
Many universities enroll residents only. A refugee has to spend much time and efforts to receive citizenship. And even after doing this, one can experience inconveniences because of language barriers. As competition in educational institutions is high, an administration prefers locals with perfect English and no juridical problems.
Many young people lose hope because they cannot complete an educational course started at home. Just imagine that you are a senior student forced to flee. It will be impossible to enroll in a Western university for a remaining semester or two. You will have to start learning from the first course, spend five more years to receive a diploma.
The thing is that refugees cannot prove that they have a stated knowledge level. When there is a crisis in a country, nobody has the opportunity to visit a dean’s office and take transcripts. People mainly think about saving their lives. Even refugees having transcripts find it difficult to deserve admissions departments’ trust. Many Syrians are using false documents — their illegal attempts to receive education result in increased skepticism of universities.
It is quite understandable why once-ambitious young people stop believing that it is possible to realize their academic goals. Hopelessness makes them more vulnerable to adverse social phenomena, such as early pregnancy or recruitment by criminal gangs.
Of course, online education may be an option. But this trend is weakly manifested in the Arab world. If a refugee returns to Syria, employers may distrust a certificate issued by an institution teaching students remotely.
Some people claim that the refugee crisis remains unaddressed because of insufficient multi-level cooperation between universities, scholarship programs, private organizations, and state bodies sponsoring them.
Solutions
Here are several things which should help to improve the situation:
· Increased funding for schools and universities. More professors, classrooms, and dorms are necessary to teach and accommodate millions of refugees. The educational system should be expanded so that foreigners do not crowd out locals and enjoy the same comfortable conditions.
· Vocational training. It is an excellent alternative for people who do not want to spend several years at a university. There should be more fast courses providing necessary practical skills and certificates recognized in Western countries, helping to make the first career-building steps.
· Syrian curriculum and teachers. It is quite challenging for refugees to adapt to a different educational program. That is why it makes sense to hire Syrian educators able to complete a curriculum started at home. We can observe the paradox today: there is a shortage of teachers in refugee schools, while many Syrian professors cannot work officially because they lack some documents. The government should enable Syrian specialists to earn money legally. This should reduce pressure on kids, often dropping out of school to maintain their families and solve the child labor problem.
· Tests as an alternative to transcripts. Young people should have the possibility to confirm their knowledge level. Tests are ideal for this purpose. If a person passes a test, one should be enrolled in a university without transcripts and continue studies.
· Facilitating traveling for education. Even when Syrians find universities ready to accept them and cover all expenses, host countries are often unwilling to issue visas. Actors in an international arena should be more humane and sympathetic to refugees. Who knows, maybe Western countries will need help tomorrow, and the world community will recall their unwillingness to lend a helping hand.
Author: Aiden Morhan
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