School Principals ’ and Teachers ’ Problems related to the Education of Refugee Students in Turkey

The aim of this study is to determine the problems, the solutions and the suggestions of the school principals and teachers towards the Syrian refugee students in the primary schools in Turkey. The research group of the study included four school principals and six teachers. The research was conducted by qualitative methods. The results revealed that the school principals mostly live communication, adaptation, accreditation, absenteeism, psychological and financial problems related to Syrian ref ugee students. Teachers also have problems such as communication problems with these students. Principals have opened ‘support rooms’ for these students; have worked for adaptation of these students, have been in contact with the families. The teachers opened literacy courses and worked to socialize these students with their classmates. Both principals and teachers have primarily proposed the creation of specific curricula for these students and the activities to solve the problem of language and cohesion for th ese students.


Introduction
The civil war that started in Syri a in March 2011 has caused millions of people to uproot and leave their country; primarily migrating to Turkey and some traveling onwards to the Wes t out of Turkey.The movement of such a large population towards the West was so intense that Europea n Union countri es, unprepared for such an action, were also surprised at what they would do.For exampl e, while 1,761,486 of the millions of people who escaped the war in Syria came as refugees † to Turkey, Lebanon opened its doors to 1,183,327, and Jordan took in 630 thousand, Iraq 250 thous and and Egypt 134 thousand in 2015 alone.In addi tion, there were 140 accepted by the UK and 4,500 by France (BBC, 2015) in 2015; plus 10,000 in the US (Connor, 2016), 12,587 in the Republic of Congo ( Krogstad & Radford, 2017), and a further 9,000 in France (BBC, 2016a) in 2016.The countri es to which the Syrians fled had no idea where to place and how to accommodate the thousands of people who came seeking refuge.Syri an refugees primarily have problems of feeding and asylum in the countries they took refuge in.For exampl e, according to official figures (BBC, 2016b), France vacated the refugee camp in Calais, which was home to seven thousand refugees, mostly Syrian, due to substandard living conditions and conflicts between French police and refugees in October 2016.
Refugees are groups or nationalities who have been abruptly uprooted from their homeland by manmade crises such as war, conflict or political unrest, or by natural disasters such as epidemics, floods, hurricanes, drought, famine or earthquakes.For decades, the consistency and sheer immensity of these manmade disasters have resulted in the wholesale displacement and mass movement of people from thei r disaster -afflicted homelands to new host countri es (Pennells & Ezeomah 2002).Furthermore, refugees hav e brought wi th th em problems of cultural integration in addi tion to the issue of accommodation in thei r new hos t countri es.The former "way of life" of refugees is at least as important as the problem of seeking asylum.In this context, refugees hav e also caused many probl ems i n the countri es that hav e accepted them, since they have also carried forward their own way of life to these countri es.For example, in 2016, women attendi ng Christmas celebrations i n some cities in Germany, and especially in Cologne, reported being surrounded by groups of young Arab men aged 20 to 30, and that they were sexually assaulted and their mobile phones and wallets then stolen (BBC, 2016c).After the mass harassment ev ents in Cologne, more formal complaints were filed, but only three peopl e were charged with sexual harassment.Similarly, in the cases of Hamburg, only four of the 245 investigative files have been transferred to the courts and only one conviction obtained.All thes e issues raise debates that current legislation does not deter sexual crimes.On this basis, sexual crimes were redefi ned in Germany and a new regulation was introduced.In addition, the Cologne Police Department decided to i ncrease the number of police patrolling on New Year's Eve ten times to 1,500 officers in order to prevent similar events from recurring (Heinrich, 2016).

Situation in Turkey
Due to its geographical location, Turkey has become a bridge between Eas t and West for many years, especially for migration.Thos e fleeing wars or turmoil in the Middle East firs t take refuge in Turkey and then head to the West out of Turkey.Turkey has begun to take back irregular mi grants intercepted in Turkish waters near to the Greek islands after the Readmission Agreement was signed between the EU and Turkey in 2013, and the EU-Turkey statement of M arch 2016 (GIGM [Ministry of Interior, General Directorate of Mi gration Administration], 2016).Furthermore, Turkey signed a readmission agreement Protocol with Bulgaria in May 2016.Then, in 2016, the European Commission approved the EU's allocation of three billion Euros for Turkey to reduce the flow of immigrants into Europe (BBC, 2016d).According to the EU, 55million Euros have so far been releas ed in payment to Turkey for the improv ement of conditions in refugee camps located in Turkey, and 40 million Euros have been sent for the education and humanitarian aid of refugees (BirGun, 2016).According to a report by the Turkish government's General Directorate of Migration Administration (GIGM, 2016), refugees living on the streets and those engaged in activities such as begging are urged to attend temporary refuge centres in various parts of the country.The needs for accommodation, health, and education of thes e refugees are able to be satisfied in these centres, and i n 2016, Syri ans numbering 7,367 were transferred to the refugee centres.As of 31 December 2016, a total of 258,545 Syrian refugees were resident in ten temporary refuge centres es tablished in cities across Turkey.In addition, in 2016 a Temporary Protection Identity Certificate was issued by the Turkish authori ties to Syrian refugees.Table 1 shows the distribution of Syrian refugees in Turkey accordi ng to age and gender (GIGM, 2017).Furthermore, the Procedure and Principles of Work Permits Issued for Foreigners under Provisional Protection (Law No: 8375) was introduced in January 2016.This directive allowed registered Syrian refugees to seek work in Turkey.The sheer number of refugees already in Turkey has tri ggered significant demographic change after the readmission agreement signed between the EU and Turkey.The General Directorate of Immigration (GIGM, 2016) reported that Turkey was accommodating a total of 2,582,600 refugees ; with 269,150 located in temporary refuge centres, and 2,313,450 living elsewhere in Turkey as of February 2016.However, this number has since increased to 3,551,078, according to data from May 2017.This data also announced that there was a total of 3,013, 278 Syrians registered; 249,009 of whom are living in temporary refuge centres while 2, 764,269 are living outside of these centres (GIGM, 2017).Despite official data, the number of refugees in Turkey is considered still unknown.According to the Sozcu newspaper (Sozcu, 2017), the Minister of Internal Affairs stated that the 3,551,078 Syrian refugees total the same as the population of 17 provinces in Turkey, a number that cons titutes 4.45% of Turkey's 79,814,871 population.Erdo gan, Kavukcuer, and Cetinkaya (2017) stated that more than 92% of refugees are living in city centres wi thin the Turkish community.
The refugees, who constitute more than 4% of the popul ation i n Turkey, hav e caused s erious probl ems as well as serious changes in the country.For exampl e, according to the Yeni Akit news paper (2017) a Deputy Prime Minister stated in February 2017 that the number of Sy rian workers in Turkey is more than ten thousand, and that thos e with professions will be given Turkish citizenship.Thus, before the referendum held in April 2017, which resulted in changing the administrative form of the Republic of Turkey to that of an executive presidency, it was decided to grant Turkish citizenship to 80 thousand Sy rians (Yeni Akit, 2017).This decision res ulted in allegations that the Sy rian refugees would vote i n favour of the government due to their new citizenship, granted just before the April referendum.This added a shadow to the legitimacy of the referendum; to which a Deputy Prime Minister answered the allegations as: It would be a pity to think of the change of the referendum with 10 -20 thousand voters in a country where there are more than 50 million voters.The res ult of the referendum cannot be changed wi th just 10 -20 thousand additional voters, and it cannot be imagined.These are pointless delusions.(Mynet, 2017).
It is also obs erved in daily life across Turkey that most Syri an refugees live outside of the temporary refuge centres.This situation is particularly harmful to the refugee children.Syrian children have serious needs, especially in the field of education and protection.Besides their own psychological trauma, they are also expos ed to numerous risks including social exclusion, discrimination, economic and sexual exploitation, and child marriage (UNICEF, 2017).Erdogan (2014) reported that the number of Syri an babies born in 10 cities where there are refugee camps located in Turkey as 30 thous and between April 2011 and October 2014.He points out that 230 thousand Syrian children hav e been born in Turkey, which ranks first i n the world with i ts 3.5 million refugees (Kahvecioglu, 2017).In this context, education emerges as a serious problem, as well as the basic needs of both the Syrian children already living in the country and the new-born.

Basic education for Syrian Children in Turkey
There are 25 camps set up for refugees in 10 provinces throughout Turkey, and these camps provide educa tion for Syrian children for all school ages, including preschool education.2007) stated, there are many factors that prev ent refugee children from attaining an education such as pov erty, the experience of trauma, violence, threat, interrupted education, and language difficulties.The refugee experience is different for every person so that it cannot be generalised.Nev erthel ess, there are similar challenges faced by all refugees in the countri es in which they seek refuge, peace and safety (Stuecker, 2006).
It is stated i n the Turkey 2015-2019 Strategic Plan (M EB, 2015) that studies will be undertaken to ens ure the adaptation of Syri an refugee students to the education system.In 2016, the Turkish government has also made new decisions about the education of Syrian children in public schools.For example, i n-service trai ning programmes will be held for teachers, school principals, and other staff to ensure that Syrian children are exposed to accusation, exclusion or separation in any educational environment in the country.In addi tion, Syrian students will be offered thei r own language training programmes outside of class hours in order to keep their language and culture alive.Furthermore, the firs t reading-writing curriculum will be offered for Sy rian children in the first grade of primary schools.For other class levels, Turkish language courses will be organised for Sy rian s tudents who are in need of additional help.Trai ning courses and programmes, especially Turkish language courses, will be opened at weekends and duri ng semester or summer holidays in order to assure the adaptation of Syri an students who, compared to existing students, have shortfalls for their grade (M EB, 2016).From these decisions, teachers and school principals have huge additional responsibilities related to the education of refugees in Turkish schools.Therefore, the problem of educating Sy rian students is not only the Government's problem, but also a problem for school principals and teachers.In this context, this study is seen as an important s tep in resolving some of the issues faced by teachers and school principals who work in schools that educate Syrian students.This study aims to determi ne the problems experienced by the principals and teachers who have Syrian s tudents in their school/class, the solutions they bring to address thes e problems and their suggestions to resolve them.Today, the education of refugees has become an issue for many countries.In this context, this study is believed to support the current literature by identifying the problems and potential solutions of refugee educators through their reflections.

Method
This study examines the problems of school principals and teachers related to educating Syrian students.The research is designed and conducted in a phenomenology pattern, which is one of the qualitative research methods.Phenomenology is defined by Merriam and Tisdell (2015) as the perception and interpretation of individual perceptions or perspectives on a certain phenomenon, and phenomenological approach is well suited to s tudy affective, emotional, and often intense human experiences.

Study Group
The res earch group comprises four school principals and six teachers who educate Syrian children in the Kocaeli province of Turkey during the 2016 -2017 academic y ear.All of the participants agreed voluntarily to participate i n the study.Of the four school principals, two are femal e and the other two are male.Of the six teachers, five are female and one is male.Of the four school principals, two are 36 years old, one is 33 and the other is 46 years old.One of the school principals has 27 years of seniority (professional experience) in education (teaching and management), two principals have 15 years, and the other has 12 years.In addition, one of the principals has 20 years seniority of management, one has 12 y ears, one has seven years, and the other has two years.The teachers are 32, 33, 42, 44, 45 and 49 years old, and they have 10, 16, 17, 20 and 21 years seniority of teaching, respectively.

Collection and Analyzing the Data
The data were collected by interview technique.Firstly, a semi -structured interview form was prepared by the researchers.The i nterview form was then piloted to confirm that it acceptably addressed the res earch probl ems.An appoi ntment was made before each interview and interviews carri ed out at the agreed time.Using the interview form, participants were individually interviewed face-to-face for 20-35 minutes.All the i nterviews were held wi thin a two month timeframe.Participants were advised that interview notes would be taken by the res earchers during the interview.These interview notes were then written up and reported as interview data.The reported data was then analysed by content analysis.Direct quotes from participants' res ponses have also been used to ensure reliability of the study.

Results
This study aimed to reveal the problems, the solutions, and the suggestions related to the Syrian students in schools.Therefore, the results were given in this direction.

The problems experienced by the principals and teachers
The results rev ealed that school principals considered there to be 11 problem areas faced by Syrian refugee students.These problem areas are communication/l anguage, accreditation, adaptation, economic, feeding, psychological, absenteeism, habitat, problems stemming from Turkish parents, problems from teachers, and abusing their privilege.The teachers interviewed s tated nine different problems faced by Syrian refugee students as socioeconomic, language/communication, inadequacy of educational materials, age-class level imbal ance, discipline, cultural differences, graduation system, different way of writing, and communication with family .The following excerpts are some of the statements made by the school principals and teachers interviewed: Principal 1: Our bigges t problem is communication, which starts when they first arrive.What grade should this child be in?What grade will we take them into ?They hav e no accreditation certificates or identity documentation; they arrive with nothing.We cannot even communicate; therefore we are trying to find teachers who can speak Arabic.There is an accreditation commission that decides which students will be placed in which grade, and class.We look at their age, but of course do not enrol the older children in the first grade.The child is then sitting in his/her class, but they are unable to do anythi ng.They cannot communicate with the other children i n the class or with their teacher.They have adaptation problems.Their clothes and home situations have problems.They have many drawbacks.Thei r materials/equi pment are always missing, and so we are trying to help them.They come to school without being properly fed in the mornings.They have psychological problems rel ated to what they hav e seen in the war.These problems are also then reflecting on the school.
Principal 2: The most important problem is that they do not attend the school regularly… …They hav e a lot of psychological problems… There are major probl ems in socioeconomic terms.They come to school ti red because they are going around begging in the evenings.We are having problems with ID numbers.
Principal 3: This is the third year that the Syrian students have been at our school.The children who first arrived were better off socioeconomically.Their parents found a job here immedi ately.However, the family situation of students who arrived here later was very poor in economic terms.There are 16 Syrian students in our school.There was uncertainty about how they would manage the curriculum when they first arrived.We did not know exactly what we were going to do.At first, our own students found the Syrian students s trange.Turkish parents also caused problems.Teachers were also thinki ng "How am I going to train these children?" Principal 4: Syri an students are having difficulty getting out of the "guest perception" becaus e they are aware that they hav e come to Turkey by way of migration.They do not feel as though they belong to the school.They perceive education as time-consuming rather than as a learning process.Since they are not i n the proper grade with peers of thei r age, they cannot express themselves well enough, they are treated anomalously in the classroom.The gov ernment gav e them these privileges and they are aware of this, but many of them are abusing this situation.They complain about their teachers or friends, saying "We are Syrian, that's why they do it".
Teacher 1: Fatma could not read or write when she fi rst arrived in my class.She could not really understand our language.She had learnt a little Turkish i n the refugee camp i n Kilis, but she speaks Turkish quite well ri ght now.She perceives the classroom as quite unusu al, and could not get used to it at first.She was quite quiet at the beginning.She did not want any thing and did not accept what was given to her.Over time, she overcame this.She was in my class for half a semes ter and became us ed to the class towards to end.She was not participating in the lessons.She was quiet yet eager to learn.Although I did not teach her the shapes of the letters, she followed me and took on other letters duri ng the course.She was a very careful student.We'v e had our communica tion difficulties.The other students in her class hav e become friends with her; they wanted to share their things wi th Fatma, but Fatma did not accept them.At first, she did not trust the class.Then she got used to me when she s aw my relationship with the rest of the class.Her family has placed Fatma entirely in my care.She has not created any problems.I would take ten minutes with her as an individual.She was observing what was going on around her.There was a probl em related to the direction of the letters, but she got used to it in time.Her family has financial problems.
Teacher 2: Cultural diversity, student adaptation and language problem are the most problematic areas.
The fact that the parents do not speak Turkish is very significant to me.I could not contact the families to give information about thei r child.I found a Syri an parent who s peaks Turkish and through them I was able to communicate with the parents of my Syrian students.Some children were not enrolled according to school enrolment ages.The students who hav e to enrol in lower grade classes are then recorded as attending the hi gher grade classes.There is no separate graduation system for the Syrian students, which I think is a significant problem.
Teacher 4: …They have difficulty in getting trai ning materials, so obviously I supply them.Because thei r elders do not speak Turkish, they cannot undertake reinforcement exercises at home.They hav e difficulties in expressing themselves, although they are older than the norm for their class level.They are trying to dispos e of their energy through misbehaviour in the classroom.I have difficulti es communicating with their families.
Teacher 5: I have two brothers in my class aged ten and eight.The older one does not speak Turkish, and so always tells his brother about his problems in his own language.He therefore uses his brother as a translator.He is behaving aggressively because he cannot express himself and gets into fights during class breaks or lunch breaks.Their parents' situation is also very bad.They carry the wounds of war in thei r souls.
Teacher 6: The most important problem is the language.Communication wi th students who do not speak the (Turkish) language was a problem at the beginning.After the language problem, there are socioeconomic problems.There are some students who are in a very bad way.These children are not yet fully used to being in Turkey.The painful ev ents and language problems they are experiencing have a significant impact on their education as students.

The solutions produced by the principals and teachers for these problems
The results show that both the school principals and teachers produced 10 solutions to the problems they have experi enced wi th thei r Sy rian students' education.According to the res ults, opening Turkish language courses at Public Education Centres is one of the firs t efforts of school principals to help solve the problems experienced by the Sy rian students i n their schools.When there are not enough students to open a course, the school principals open "support rooms" in order to teach literacy to these s tudents with the help of Turkish teachers, or class teachers.The school principals try to solve behavioural problems of Syrian students by dealing wi th their problems on a one -to -one basis in schools.The school principals keep in touch with the parents of the Syri an students where there are problems with irregular attendance.They provide financial support to thes e families in trying to ensure that student absenteeism is minimised.Syrian students benefit from free meals in the school cafeteria.In addition, the principals have taken care to help the Syrian students socialise in schools.Some of the statements of the school principals are as follows: Principal 1: We open Turkish cours es in order to resolve the language problem.Our school was the firs t to do this.We have lots of Syrian students.The number was higher last year.We hav e 21 students this year, but last year the number was more than 30.Apart from the class time, we are opening a separate cours e for these children called our "support room".We use our own teachers to teach them there.We are openi ng a Turkish language course.It's very useful.We have been running these courses now for two years.Together with their lack of materi als, clothing issues also affect their education.We are trying to resolve this through collecting money between our teaching staff and taking advantage of the budget of the PTA.Our s ensitive parents help out too.The other day, we went to the hous e of a socioeconomically poor student.There was literally nothing in his house.One parent bought them a fridge, another oven or something.We've gradually furnished their houses.A few companies from our neighbourhood provided thei r food for a month.We are trying to include thes e children in the ev ents at school, and to prov ide all kinds of opportunities to socialise these students together with the other children.
Principal 2: First, we try to keep thes e children coming to the school regularly.Next, we try to prev ent them from begging.We are slowly advancing, step by step.We're trying to make them a part of the community… Principal 3: Teachers did not know what to do with these children at first.Afterward, they got used to them.We solved these children's adjustment problems.After all, they are jus t children, and children get used to each other easily.We strengthened the social relations of the Syrian children with the other children.We meet with their parents.
Principal 4: We are trying to teach Turkish in order to solve their language problems at the beginning.They are studying with the 1st grade for this purpose.They are having difficulties becaus e they do not have a proper education programme.Better feedback happens where the family is a bit concerned, but if the family does not care, the child uses the school as a place to play and create mischief.
According to the results, teachers interact with the Syrian students and teach them literacy in free lessons.Teachers are devoting time to the Sy rian children and making efforts towards their academic dev elopment.T hey are trying to ensure that the Syrian students do not feel lonely in the classroom.They try to keep the sense of failure away from these students by preparing homework assignments more appropri ate to thei r level.They use Syrian and Turkish speaking parents in order to communicate with those parents who do not speak Turkish.They meet with the parents of the Turkish students, inform and enlighten them about the Syrian students.Some of the teachers' expressions on this are as follows: Teacher 1: Fatma's house was bombed in Aleppo.I told my students about Fatma when she was out of the classroom… The students gave pens and gifts to Fatma, and shared thei r food and crayons wi th her.The parents doubted whether Fatma was hygienic or not.I i nformed them in a meeting.The community did not want to accept her.Children also made their parents conscious of the Syrian families.I did not do any extra work for Fatma, just did what I was doing with my students.I tried to socialise her.
Teacher 2: I was doing literacy work in my spare class time for them.I gave them different homework.I tried to communicate wi th them with the help of the other parents who are Syri an and speak Turkish.Turkish student classmates were helping them with their homework I assigned them.I was in touch with the school principal about these students, but I did not receive enough support.We were constantly discussing these s tudents with the school counsellor.I was constantly reporting on the current situation.I asked the principal to send thes e children to the fi rst grade at least for their Turkish classes.At the end of the academic year, these students have not been re-enrolled at the s ame grade.Even though I said that they di d not know how to read and write, and would hav e more difficulty in the next grade, they were s ent up to the next grade without knowing anything.
Teacher 3: I've already done all I can with these kids to socialise them with the other s tudents… I taught them reading and writing and all the letters.I did these studies during school time and have solved thes e problems through classroom work.I have motivated these children before the class time so that they would not be excluded by the other students.
Teacher 4: I try to spend more time with them than my Turkish students in order to overcome the difficulties they encounter.I have been in constant dialogue with them about the rules and methods of studying.In addition, I am constantly in contact with the school couns ellors so that problems can be overcome more easily.
Teacher 5: I started to look for a solution to this problem i n my own class at fi rst.When he wanted to go to the toilet, he was using hand signs to show his need.I asked him to s ay, "Can I go to the toilet?"And then I sent him to the toilet.I taught him to say "Good morning" in the morni ngs.I talked to him constantly and tried to make him get used to Turkish.
Teacher 6: Syrian students cannot participate in the lectures because of their weak understanding of Turkish.They do not get enough in-class acquisition and this causes the child to cool off from school by reducing their interest in the lessons.
The suggestions of the principals and teachers to solve these problems Lastly, school principals suggested 12 solutions and teachers suggested 10 for the problems that they have experienced with Syrian students in their schools.The school principals proposed providing orientation training for the Sy rian students at firs t.The parents do not know Turkish, therefore, the school principals proposed to give speci al language courses to them.They stated that thes e students could not adapt themselves to the current curriculum, hence they recommend prepari ng private curricula for these s tudents.They al so mentioned the importance of rehabilitation studies, and sugges ted opening literacy courses for these students in schools.In addition, they sugges ted educating Syrian students in a single school.The lack of school bus services creates a major problem for those students who live some distance from the school.The principals suggested that a shuttle bus service should be provided for these students.The school principals indicated that these s tudents should be supported more socially too.They also stated that absentee students must be tracked more strictly in order to overcome the problem of abs enteeism.They claim that some Sy rian students regard themselves as superior to the other students at school; therefore, these students need the support of school counsellors to help ensure that they feel and act more equal to the other students.Finally, they stated that the laws restricted them from trying to resolve problems related to their Syrian students.They suggested creating legal arrangements that will make them feel more able to overcome these problems.Some of the solutions propos ed by the principals are as follows: Principal 1: Fi rst of all, I would rather keep a solid record of the Syrians as they entered the country.I wish there were offices for this; child psychologists; those who speak Arabic, I wish there were teachers; and a commission to determine the grades each child should be in.I wish they would take language courses lasting a few months.I wish the socioeconomic situation of these Syrians was analysed and reported, we would all be more comfortabl e if it were properly reported.Currently, we put the children into education directly without any preparation.We have to provide an orientation programme for thes e students.Language courses are very important, and their families should also attend these courses.A compulsory family education can be given to these parents.How will the child live in Turkey?What is the situation of this child at school?What do the children eat?How does the child t reat other people?The integration training that we have done with our own students can also be applied wi th thes e children.Special plans can be made for thes e children.I think these children should be rehabilitated first of all, and then taken into regular education.
Principal 2: Literacy courses must be opened in every school.There mus t be different methods to help them participate in daily life.These pupils should be gathered in one school wherever possible.A common application must be made to integrate them into the community.These students should be provided with a school bus shuttle service.
Principal 3: These children and their families should be supported more socially.It should never be forgotten that these children hav e the right to an education and they should be trai ned according to the principle of "continuing education" in order to integrate them into Turkish society.Some of the children are forced into begging by their parents.The government should absolutely prevent this; and thes e children should not be employed as cheap labour either.Thei r school attendance should also be closely tracked.
Principal 4: Firs t of all, it should be ensured that these children feel they belong here.Their differences should be seen as a wealth.Along with thei r families, they should be more aligned with the school, and classroom teachers can undertake "parent activities" towards this.The school counselling guidance service should be in contact with the families, and areas created where the children ca n express thems elves.Of course, an appropriate curriculum should also be implemented for them.They should be motivated to us e the opportuni ties offered by the State, for adaptation and belonging to the community instead of using them for their own benefit.It should be ensured that they regard themselves as equal, not as privileged, in the community.Instead of just presenting then wi th something already prepared, we need to develop practices that enable them to earn through labour.Educational insti tutio ns should feel more confident while trying to resolve problems related to them.Educators should not be worried about "what will come next?" after they impose a sanction rel ated to them.All students should be treated equally.
The teachers proposed that the Syrian children be educated in classes appropriate to their age or in special classes created es pecially for them.They suggested that the government rather than individuals should fulfil the Sy rian families' needs.Teachers indicated that students who do not s peak Turkish had difficulty in all their courses, and proposed openi ng special literacy courses at schools where needed.In addition, they proposed opening up support rooms for thes e students and providing them with individualised education.They indicated that these practices would address some of the academic difficulties faced by these children.Meanwhile, they stated that the Sy rian students who "passed" the upper levels without actually learning anything could not adapt to senior grades; and tha t those students should repeat their grade level education.Teachers have indicated that many school principals and guidance counsellors do not have enough information about the problems of Syrian students.In this context, they suggested inservice trai ning for both counsellors and pri ncipals about the subject.The teachers emphasised the importance of providing them with psychological support.Lastly, they emphasised the need for a more suitabl e curriculum for the Syrian students.Some of the statements made by the teachers are as follows: Teacher 1: In my opinion, class teachers or Turkish language teachers should do literacy activities with Syrian students.Special opportunities must be afforded to them as their traditions somewhat differ.They must work in better harmony with thei r teachers as appreciating thei r teacher is one of the most important condi tions in solving the integration problems faced by these students.It's important to show empathy with them.Special afterschool studies should be undertaken with these children.
Teacher 2: First of all, thei r families should be taught Turkish.Teacher 4: Special classrooms can be created for these students.After Turkish literacy studies and adaptation processes, they can be taken back into classes at their own lev el.They should not regard the schools as places where they only come to fill time.The government must improve the conditions of the families.
Teacher 6: Speci al classes for Sy rian s tudents, as I saw during an overseas assignment, can help to solve the problems here.The curriculum for these s pecial classes was prepared differently.The number of Turkish lessons can be increas ed.In addition, a program of teaching Turkish to foreigners can be developed.Si nce the current Turkish language program and Turkish materi als that we practice in our classes are prepared for students whos e mother tongue is Turkish, they are largely unsuited to the Syrian students.

Discussion and Conclusions
Syrian citizens amassed at the Turkish border due to the internal conflicts in Syria in March 2011.Turkey executed an "Open Door Policy" for these people, and they have been pouring in to the country since then.They were taken to temporary refuge centres in the fi rst few months and most were granted Turkish citizenship.Today they are living and working in various provinces throughout Turkey.Meanwhile, Syrian children were enrolled in the Turkish public school system.Naturally, this implementation has b rought about various problems for educators, school principals, the Syrian students themselves, and also for thei r parents.This study has attempted to repres ent the problems from the pers pective of the teachers and school principals who have dealt directl y with these students in their schools.In addi tion, solutions that the educators hav e found to the problems mentioned hav e been outlined.Finally, this study aimed to identify proposals for solutions that the educators could not implement, but that they b elieved would go towards resolving the educational problems of the Sy rian students.For this purpos e, separate interviews were held with a group of teachers and school principals who volunteered to participate in this research study.
The results of the study indicate that the school principals primarily see communication and adaptation problems in relation to thei r Syrian students.They have opened Turkish language courses in collaboration with Public Education Centres for those s tudents who do not know Turkish.In addition, they have provided "support rooms" to help the students through individualised education.They have tried to deal with the issues faci ng their Syrian students in order to address probl ems in their integration into Turkish society.Additionally, they have charged these students with various duties in order to socialise them within their schools.They have enabled the Syrian students to benefit from free access to the school cafeteri a in order to address their nutri tional problems.They hav e found sponsors for the families of Syrian children faced with financial difficulties.In addition, they hav e been to visit the families in their homes of those students who exhibit absenteeism problems to be in direct contact and to resolve the problem.
One of the important problems challenging the school principals is the lack of accredited documentation for the Sy rian students.In addition, students who do not s peak Turkish hav e to attend the first -grade class no matter how much older they are than the majority of other first-grade students.This implementation has resulted in psychological issues which the school principals hav e not found a solution to.Another issue that the school principals could not fi nd a direct solution to is the l ack of an appropriate curriculum for the Sy rian students.The fact that teachers did not know exactly what they would do with the Syrian students at first was reflected by the school principals as a considerable problem.
The school principals propos ed that Syrian students be given orientation training first off.Accordi ng to the school principals, it is inevitable that literacy courses will need to be opened in all schools where there are Syrian students in attendance.They indicated that the implementation of a private curriculum for Syrian children would significantly reduce the difficulties they experience in educational settings and provide thes e students with a better chance of integration withi n the school Turkish school system.Not only the Syri an children, but als o their families have a (Turkish) language problem; therefore the importance of opening up language courses for their families as well was emphasised by the school principals.
The school principals proposed that a shuttle (school bus) service needed to be provided for Syrian students who live far away from their schools.They rev ealed that some Sy rian students were being employed or were being used as cheap labour, which has interrupted their education.A joi nt targeted action by the Ministry of National E ducation and the General Directorate of Security could resolve the problem.
The teachers interviewed also expressed that they experience probl ems of language and communication with Sy rian students in their classrooms.The teachers indicated that they end u p communicating with some Syrian s tudents who do not know Turkish by enlisting the help of other Syri an students who speak a little Turkish.They stated that they also contribute to their language learning practices by teaching them one -to -one in "support rooms" during empty lesson hours in their teachi ng schedules.Another important problem s tated by the teachers is that illiterate older Sy rian students are being educated with the first graders, and the older students cannot adapt to the classroom environm ent, nor do the other s tudents accept them.This is a general problem that all the teachers complained about.Thes e children often exhibit undisciplined behaviours in the classroom, and teachers rev ealed that they spend more time with these students than the others and have involved the school guidance counsellors to ai d managi ng their integration into the class.
The results revealed that teachers have communication problems with Sy rian parents who do not speak Turkish, and that they solved this probl em with the help of other Syri an parents who know Turkish.The results indicated that the teachers informed their other students about the Syrian children before they joined the class in order to prev ent any negative reaction.In addition, they informed the Turkish parents about this too.The fact that the writing system in Syria is ri ght-to-left seemed a significant problem to start; howev er, the Syri an students have become accustomed to writing from left-to -ri ght with the help of their teachers.One of the problems that cannot yet be resolved is the l ack of a graduation system for Syri an students.The participant teachers believed that this problem could be handled with a new curriculum.
To conclude, a proper curriculum might be developed for the Sy rian students in order to help them integrate into the community and to overcome some of the troubles they face in what is for them a new culture.Thus, they can be more easily adapted to the Turkish culture and try to become a part of the Turkish community.In additi on, these children can be educated in classes created especially for them, and thus educated in classes more appropriate for their age groups and thereby increasing their chances of success.Parents are an important el ement of a child's education.The openi ng of literacy courses for families who do not speak Turkish will make these parents better integrate with the community, as well as strengthen thei r relationship with the school.The psychological support provided by the experts to these students is inadequate at present.One of the important tasks of the Ministry of National Education is to provide inservice training to school guidance counsellors in order that they may then guide the Syrian students in their schools.
According to the results, the Syri an students are being used as beggars or cheap labour.In this context, the State should take all necessary measures to ensure that thes e children are able to attend school regul arly.The results revealed that the couns ellors who should primarily deal wi th these students are not well-informed about their condition and difficulties.Therefore, the counsellors need to receive i n-service trai ning on the integration of Syrian students in order for these students to be afforded a more conscientious level of psychological support.Lastly, the res ults revealed that Syrian students often attend schools that are far away from their homes.It is proposed that these students should be educated i n schools that are closer to where they live; or where this is not possible, these students should benefit from the provision of a school bus shuttle service.
Figure 1: Number of Syrian refugees who have been temporarily protected in Turkey (GIGM 2017).

Table 1 .
Distribution of Syrians according to age and gender* May 20177May 2017, (GIGM, 2017) The Ministry of National Education can open free courses for them.Syrian students should be provided with an individualised education in support rooms, and literacy courses must also be open to them.These children should be educated in the appropriate class for their age.If necessary, they should repeat a grade level.Separate classes can also be created for Syrian students.School principals and guidance couns ellors should be trained and informed about the subject.Everythi ng was in my endeavour when the Government integrated these children into the class.These children should never be treated with prejudice.Thes e students often need to talk, and thei r troubles should be listened to by someone.These children should be given technical support.The reasons for their escape from homel and can be identified and a more suitable lifestyle for them can be prepared accordingly.The s tate should determine thei r aims and should treat them accordingly.I think they should go to classes based on their age group where they are.It would be wrong to separate thes e children from other students.The state should give them an increased level of financial support.