INGEV and Bahçeşehir University Center of Migration and Urban Studies cooperated in organizing “Syrian Participation in Turkey’s Higher Education Workshop”.
To develop suggestions about the Call Center’s scope of service, which will assist guidance support in order to encourage Syrian youngsters living in Turkey to participate in higher education “Syrian Participation in Turkey’s Higher Education Workshop” was organized at Bahçeşehir University. Ministry of National Education, Directorate General Of Migration Management, TÖMER, TÜRKMER, Ankara University, Bahçeşehir University, İstanbul Aydın University, various non-governmental organizations working on education of Syrian students across Turkey, and Syrian students were present at the Workshop in which current policies, implementations, and support mechanisms for Syrian participation in higher education and issues and needs relating to Syrian youngsters’ participation in higher education were brought up. Additionally, suggestions regarding the Call Center’s scope of service, which will be founded under the “Education is A Must Project” were discussed.
At the Workshop, where 30 people were present, general issues Syrian youngsters face in accessing higher education were defined as;
-not being able to get information about the universities and study majors that can be applied to, not knowing the sources of information about the process of applying to universities, higher education exam – YÖS, registration and enrollment to the university, undergraduate transfer, enrolling as a special student, procedures regarding the transfer from associate degree to bachelor’s degree, getting equivalence of high school diploma or certificate, scholarships and grants, process of application to these scholarship programmes, criteria for selecting the scholarship candidates, current Turkish language courses, and process of application to TOEFL.
On the other hand, it was suggested that the Call Center, which will perform as a support for Syrians to participate in higher education, should encourage guidance to Syrian students about university application procedures, issues regarding equivalence, scholarship and dormitory facilities, language courses, and TOEFL application process.