How the different policies and school systems affect the inclusion of Syrian refugee children in Sweden, Germany, Greece, Lebanon and Turkey

Abstract

Since the war in Syria started in 2011, many children left their war-torn country, alone or together with their families, and fled to neighboring countries in the Middle East, to Turkey or to Europe. This article will compare how Syrian refugee children are included or not -in school systems both in Europe (Sweden, Germany and Greece) and outside Europe (Turkey and Lebanon). These five countries represent very different ways of receiving children in their educational system. We will compare national institutional arrangements like access to compulsory school, access after compulsory school age, welcome or immersion classes, second language education and tracking mechanisms. Including children as soon as possible in regular classes seems to provide the best chances for school success, whereas educating refugee children in a segregated parallel school system for extended periods often results in early school leaving or not attending school at all.

Second generation from refugee backgrounds in Europe

“…Moreover the papers show that the notion of integration is complex and that an appropriate theoretical framework has to consider individual and contextual factors. Along this line both Crul et al (2019) and Koehler and Schneider (2019) argue that institutional arrangements and support can make a great difference.…”

“…The first two articles, by Crul, Lelie, Biner, Bunar, Keskiner, Kokkali, Schneider and Shuayb (2019) and by Koehler and Schneider (2019) analyse the educational systems and school success of the children of refugees. Their research provides an analysis of the first years in exile as it includes children who were not born in the country of residence (and who correspond therefore to those categorised as the 1.5 generation), who were still minors at the time of the research and who were still in a situation of legal uncertainty while waiting for an answer to their asylum request.…”

“…Their research provides an analysis of the first years in exile as it includes children who were not born in the country of residence (and who correspond therefore to those categorised as the 1.5 generation), who were still minors at the time of the research and who were still in a situation of legal uncertainty while waiting for an answer to their asylum request. Crul, et al (2019) compare how schools receive refugee children between countries inside Europe (Sweden, Germany and Greece) and outside Europe (Turkey and Lebanon). Whilst most of the literature on the children of refugees and their education has focused on welcoming issues and their immersion in international classes, this article aims to examine the effects of each educational system on the school careers of these children.…”

From subjects of knowledge to subjects of integration? Newly arrived students with limited schooling in Swedish education policy

“…Nilsson Folke, 2017; Skowronski, 2013). This legislation was hence ‘guided by a desire to avoid social segregation between newly arrived students and the rest of schools’ (Crul et al, 2019: 7). Even so, there is much to indicate that NALS are often placed in preparatory classes for considerably longer periods than other newly arrived students (Korp et al, 2019; SGO, 2017).…”

The problems that Syrian refugee children, class teachers and Turkish children face in the school environment from the standpoint of trainee teachers

“…In the literature, there are many studies about the problems Syrian children experience in their countries of migration. A study examining the inclusion of Syrian refugee children in school systems in Sweden, Germany, Greece, Lebanon and Turkey shows that these children are not given a high-quality education and rich materials and teachers are not trained to learn a second language (Crul et al, 2019). At the same time, Syrian children have been struggling for years with war and they have to emigrate from their countries.…”