The investigation of non-governmental organizations' policy on the education of refugee children

In recent centuries, people have been migrating to various parts of the world due to wars and conflicts especially centered in the Middle East. Turkey, which is geographically located in a significant and transit region, has become a target country of the migrations which have been caused by the wars and conflicts occurred nearby geography. More than 3 million Syrian refugees have migrated to Turkey because of the war in Syria that has continued for more than 7 years. Although Turkey is familiar to refugees and asylum-seekers, it has faced an unexpected situation with migration of great number of Syrians to the country. In addition to this condition, there are migrations from countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Both government bodies and non-governmental organizations have carried out works and studies in many areas particularly on economic supports since the refugees came to the country. Although registered refugees have been schooled, there are still many child refugees who are out of school. Additionally, there exist serious problems about the education of the refugees, and the collaboration between the state and the non-governmental organizations also seems insufficient. This study aims to investigate the non-governmental organizations' policy on the education of the refugee children in Turkey. In this context, it is intended to uncover how the non-governmental organizations support the education of the refugee children and whether they participate the decision making about refugee education. This qualitative study has been designed as a case study. Research data were gathered from 7 participants working in the administrative positions in non-governmental organizations by a semi structured interview form consisting twelve open ended questions. Descriptive and content analysis were conducted on the data. The analysis of the data showed significant results about the non-governmental organizations decision making process and the problems encountered about the iv education of refugee children. Finally, some suggestions have been made about the education policy of refugee children and non-governmental organizations.