Moving Lives Forward for Children on the Move

Rana, who lives in Aleppo city of Syria, had to migrate to Türkiye with her family in 2016 when she was 9 years old due to the internal turmoil that began in the country. Rana, who is now 16 years old, has a mental disability of 70%. Unable to receive education while in Syria due to lack of suitable education opportunities, Rana was able to attend school only after coming to Türkiye with her family.

Rana currently lives with her 28-year-old brother Alan, who is married and has a child. The house is home to two families, comprising a total of 9 persons. Rana’s mother, Aisha (53), and her father Roy (61), attach importance to their children’s’ education. Rana also has a 19-year-old sister named Maher and 14-year-old twin brothers named Ramee and Zia.

In 2020, Rana’s mother Aisha crossed paths with Association for Social Development and Aid Mobilization (ASAM)’s Support for School Enrollment Programme team. ASAM provided Aisha with counselling on the importance of education to enable the schooling of her children, and also gave information about the education system in Türkiye and made referrals. Since Rana requires special education due to her state of disability, her mother Aisha wanted to take her daughter out of school when in 5th grade on account that she was unable to understand the courses. With the guidance of the SSE Programme team, it was ensured that Rana continues her education life without any disruptions. Rana attended the same school and thus, completed her middle school education after studying in the special education class until the end of 8th grade.

Rana did not know how to continue her education life after graduating from middle school and remained out of school for a year due to the language barrier. Having to constantly stay home during this period made Rana unhappy, making her mother feel bad about it as well. The SSE Programme team found out about this situation during their follow-up calls and invited Aisha to the ASAM office. At the Association, Aisha was provided with counseling on the school enrollment procedures required for Rana’s schooling. The necessary actions to take during this period were planned and it was decided to accompany the family and provide them with transportation and interpretation support.

Owing to the support of ASAM’s SEE Programme team, an assessment report was first obtained from the Guidance and Research Center (GRC) which operates under the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye. Afterward, the District Directorate of National Education decided on Rana’s placement to enroll her in an appropriate education opportunity. Her family was not familiar with the location of the school in which she was placed. Therefore, ASAM accompanied the family by continuing to offer transportation and interpretation support during the school enrollment period. Consequently, Rana’s stage 3 placement was achieved in the Special Education Practice School in the city where she lived, and Rana was enrolled in school. Rana also benefited from the school’s bus support. She continued school for a year without any problems. Currently in 10th grade and in her second year of school, Rana conveyed how happy she is during the follow-up interviews. She also expressed that she spends time with her mother and siblings at home and has quite good communication with her family. Rana’s family thanked ASAM’s SSE Programme team, noting that Rana would have remained out of school if not for this support.

Rana can now speak Arabic fluently enough to express herself and what she wants, she can give simple answers to questions, and can sometimes understand what is spoken with the help of her mother or siblings. Rana can also understand Turkish on a basic level and can form sentences. Owing to the education she received, Rana is now able to overcome the barriers.

(Note: The real name of the beneficiary has been changed.)