Number of Syrian students in Turkish universities quadruples
The number of Syrian refugees attending universities in Turkey is increasing, as it is nearly impossible for Syrian students to continue their education in Syria because of the ongoing civil war.
According to statistics released by the Higher Education Board (YÖK), the number of new admittances from Syria at the undergraduate level was 217; the total number of Syrian students studying at universities in Turkey was 608 in the 2011-2012 academic year. In the 2012-2013 academic year, new admittances increased to 418 and the total number of students was 962. In the 2013-2014 academic year the number of new admittances was 807 and the total number was 1,785. Finally, in the 2013-2015 academic year, the number of new admittances reached 2,298 and the total number of Syrian students reached 4,597.
Ali Rıza Seydi, a lecturer at Süleyman Demirel university who wrote the article “Reflections on the Conflict in Syria on the Education Process of Syrians from the Perspectives of Syrian Academics and Educators in Turkey” and studied on the subject, talked to Sunday’s Zaman. He said YÖK has taken big steps to solve the problem but has failed to get the public’s support and enforced decisions properly.
In 2012, YÖK published a notice declaring that seven universities, including Çukurova, Gaziantep, Harran, Kilis 7 Aralık, Mustafa Kemal, Mersin and Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, which are close to the Syrian-Turkish border, can accept the Syrian students as “special students” without asking for any documents. Later in 2013, YÖK let Syrian students who had all the necessary documents transfer to Turkish universities as undergraduates.
However, Seydi says none of these attempts were successful. He adds that Education Minister Nabi Avcı’s announcement on May 13 of the founding of a university that would primarily accept the Syrian students in Gaziantep province might be a solution to the current problem.
Seydi stated that when he met with the Syrian students in person, they said they wanted a university which would accept both students and academics from Syria, as students are not the only ones who were affected by the war. He said opening such a university in İstanbul would be a great advantage for the future of Turkey.
The academic stressed during his talk that the issue of Syrians’ education should be treated differently from the other problems that arise with the Syrian refugees’ arrival as it could be turned into an advantage, considering how universities around the world are trying to attract international students.
Seydi says the effects of the war will go on for at least 17 years, which is the standard set by the UN as the average amount of time it takes for refugees to return home.
One Syrian student Sunday’s Zaman spoke with who came to Turkey in 2014 and who is currently taking Turkish language courses before moving on to coursework in English language and literature at İstanbul University said she and her family first moved to Sudan after the war began. But tuition fees for universities there were too high for them, so they had to look for another country. She says when they came to Turkey, she first applied to Yıldız Technical University but was rejected. She then applied to İstanbul University. When asked whether she feels like she is at home in Turkey, she says, “I have a house here but a house is very different from a home.”
TODAY’S ZAMAN