B. Dilara Şeker

Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey

 dilaraseker@hotmail.com

CHALLENGES FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN AT SCHOOL IN EASTERN TURKEY

Ibrahim Sirkeci

Regent's Centre for Transnational Studies,

Regent’s University London, London, United Kingdom

 sirkecii@regents.ac.uk

Abstract. In this study, we focus on the challenges faced by refugee children at schools in Van, an eastern province at the Iranian border. Focusing on the teachers’ assessment of problems encountered by refugee children at school, this paper is based on  qualitative interviews conducted at three schools in the city centre of Van province. The qualitative interviews were conducted with a semi-structured interview schedule. As teachers reported, main problem areas are lack of Turkish language ability among refugee children, absence of education tailored for refugee children, and problems with relations with other pupils. Among recurrent themes, limited language skills that refugee children have mostly suffered from and problems with making friends among peers were prominent. The teachers interviewed were willing to address these issues encountered by refugee children and they seemingly considered these issues as part of a wider set of complex issues with multifaceted details.

Received: June, 2015

1st Revision: October, 2015

Accepted: December, 2015

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2015/8-4/9

JEL Classification: I14, I31, J13

Keywords: Refugee children, education, integration, problems at school.