Opinions of Syrian students on Imam Hatip high school vocational courses

The "Arab Spring" events that started in Tunisia in 2010 and affected Syria in 2011 were violently suppressed by the regime in Syria, which led to many massacres. Syrians who were forced to flee this violent environment took refuge in many countries. Turkey, one of these countries, has been the country that accepted the most refugees from the very beginning. Turkey has sought to support these Syrian refugees by granting them many rights. One of these rights is the right to education. Within the framework of this right, Syrian students have been provided education with many different institutions and curricula since the first day, and this right to education has continued with some changes and updates over time. With the Circular on Education and Training Services for Foreigners published in 2014, Syrian students started to receive education in public schools. One of these schools is the imam hatip high schools, which are preferred by the majority of Syrian students. In this study, Syrian students' opinions, perspectives, expectations or criticisms about the vocational courses in imam hatip high schools were examined. The case study, one of the qualitative research methods, was adopted in the research. The study group consists of 27 Syrian high school students with different characteristics who are studying at three different Anatolian Imam Hatip High Schools in Fatih/Istanbul in the 2023-2024 academic year and 6 teachers working at these schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students in the form of focus group interviews and with teachers individually between March 4 and April 22, 2024. The audio recordings taken during the interviews were transcribed in computer and then analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. As a result of the research, although the Syrian students studying at Imam Hatip High Schools show differences due to their past learning, family structure and future expectations about IHL vocational courses, they mostly see the Arabic course as dysfunctional, they are more eager for information and courses that they can use in life, and they have less difficulty in Imam Hatip High School vocational courses due to their inclination to Arabic and religious knowledge.