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

Maurice Crul*, Frans Lelie, Özge Biner, Nihad Bunar, Elif Keskiner, Ifigenia Kokkali, Jens Schneider, Maha Shuayb

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10
Pages (from-to)1-20
Number of pages20
JournalComparative Migration Studies
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Apr 2019

Keywords

  • Education
  • Integration
  • Introduction classes
  • Refugee children
  • Second language instruction
  • Welcome classes

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