Speaking to our newspaper's correspondent Furkan Erten in the Azez region of Syria, experienced educator Abdu Younes Dirbas expressed very important issues about the education system in Syria.
Stating that education was cut off at the beginning of the war, Dirbas said that the implementation of education in Turkey in Syria has both positive and negative effects.
The Syrian civil war that broke out in March 2011 caused many systems to be re-established as well as displaced people from their homes.
Immigration and the constant change of borders caused the education system to be cut off.
While education was not provided in many regions from 2012 to 2014, the education provided after this date was not of the quality to meet the needs of the students.
Abdu Yunus Dirbas, who has been teaching and administrating in Syria for 28 years, told our newspaper about the education system and needs in Syria.
“EDUCATION HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED FROM 2012 TO 2014”
Abdu Yunus Dirbas, a 28-year educator, "I am 54 years old, most of my life has been spent in education, I have been an educator for 28 years. I have been teaching for 20 years and an administrator for 8 years. When we look at the education situation in Syria, we can say that the quality of education before the war was better than it is now. This is quite normal because our schools were not destroyed, there was no conflict in our streets. Training was discontinued from 2012 to 2014 when the war broke out. All the students were on the street, in the camp. Then the training started again," he said.
“THE SPREAD OF TURKISH IS ONE OF THE POSITIVE POINTS”
Dirbas said that with the implementation of Turkey's education system, there have been both positive and negative developments.
"Let me tell you the positive parts first. Turkey established the 'Syrian Foreign Students Information Operating System', all students were included. This system made it easy for students to transfer, upload and view grades. This system has been very useful to us. One of the positive points is that students learn Turkish and spread Turkish. Supporting teachers' salaries, building new schools and repairing demolished schools is also very beneficial to this community. These are positive things," he added.
“LACK OF MERIT IS ALSO A PROBLEM”
Dirbas, who also tells about negative situations, "As for the negatives, our exams were mostly written answers. Even if the student made a spelling mistake in the exam, his score would be broken, and this allowed students to learn and pay attention. With the implementation of Turkey's education system here, there are 'multiple choice' exams. This situation affected the students the most. Students may get a passing grade in the exam, but they do not learn. On the other hand, there are deficiencies in the books, especially in the history and geography books. In some areas, the lack of merit is also a problem. Those who cannot handle this task are given a task," he said.
“WE SHOULD EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN HERE, IN SYRIA”
"There are improvements and developments in education to reach the situation before the war. Now teachers and families give importance to education. Because in the past 11 years, we have understood the importance of education and the importance of schools. Maybe many people want to educate their children in Turkey. No, we should have our children educated here. Because the child who leaves here will never come back here. We need to value our students and train them. Together with the students, we need to make the diplomas and certificates given here important. Diplomas awarded here must have international validity," Dirbas said.
"Of course we need a lot. Our teachers' salaries are very low. There are problems in providing students with stationery. Because almost everyone here is in bad financial condition. Our schools have many shortcomings. We need labs, computers and even stationery. We also need schools in rural and central areas," he added.