Child Refugee Crisis

Dana*, 12, is originally from Dair Ezzor in Syria. Her family of ten have been living in Al Hol displacement camp for three years. Dana only managed to complete the first year of her schooling before her family were forced to flee their home. Since then, Save the Children’s Temporary Learning Space in the camp has been Dana’s main source of education. She has been a student at the Temporary Learning Space for the three years her family have been in Al Hol. It has made a huge difference to Dana’s life and the life of her family.

In the words of Dana’s mother, “I was hoping that my children can have the opportunity to study here [Al Hol camp]. They didn’t before. The schools were getting bombed. So there was no education. Now, I have five children attending Save the Children school here”.

Save the Children currently operates eight Temporary Learning Spaces in three camps in North East Syria. Temporary Learning Spaces provide access to quality non-formal education opportunities for children aged six to 17, many of whom have faced multiple displacements and have been out of school for a prolonged period of time. Indeed, many children have never been to school at all. Temporary Learning Spaces offer two education tracks to meet the learning needs of each child:

1) Basic Literacy and Numeracy for children aged nine and above who have not yet acquired these foundational skills.

2) The Self Learning Program - a curriculum designed for children to achieve competencies in line with the formal school system.

Each Temporary Learning Space supports 400-600 children. These children are also supported through recreational psychosocial support activities.