Developing the social cohesion of Syrian children to the world

  • Hasan Arslan
  • Sabri Barış Aykurt
Keywords: Pedagogy and migration, border policy, social cohesion

Abstract

When schools are interrupted, closed or destroyed, that essential core function ceases. That happened to children in Syria. This civil war caused millions of Syrian children to move to the Turkish border. In addition, the Syrian school system has been severely damaged since 2011 and its schools could not fulfill one of its most important responsibilities: contributing to the development of social cohesion among students. Turkey is hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees of any country, with an estimated population of over 2,5 million registered refugees (as well as another 2,5 million unregistered refugees) of Syrians within its borders. Ahmet Davutoglu, ex-prime minister of Turkey, stated in his/her speech at the meeting of the United Nations that 540,000 Syrian children in Turkey are of school age and 400,000 more will reach school age in next year. The paper discusses how to build awareness on the critical importance of social cohesion for peaceful coexistence, how to promote cultural rights, cultural diversity, exercise of freedom of religion and belief, respect for minorities and differences within Turkish society and how to teach common values through sharing ideas about social and historical perspectives to foster social cohesion.

Published
2020-05-23
How to Cite
Arslan, H., & Aykurt, S. B. (2020). Developing the social cohesion of Syrian children to the world. Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures , 1(1), 137-148. Retrieved from http://www.socioscapes.org/index.php/sc/article/view/35