Scholarship to support Syrian students in Turkey: when a school bag becomes the beginning of restoring hope
In 2022, the Center for Environmental and Social Development (CESD) provided a grant to SAR YARDIMLASMA DERNEGI amounting to $1,797 in Turkey, as part of its commitment to supporting Syrian refugee children and upholding their right to education and dignity. This grant came within the framework of the “Ladna Netعلم” program, which focused on securing basic school supplies for Syrian children, foremost among them school bags and school uniforms, as well as encouraging gifted children in music and the arts, considering creativity part of psychological and social recovery, not a secondary luxury in the lives of children who have lived through war and displacement.
This initiative was not merely limited material assistance, but an attempt to reconnect Syrian children with the path of education and normal life. A refugee child who receives a school bag and proper clothing does not only gain school tools, but also gains the feeling that they are seen, and that their future is still worth investing in. In displacement settings, where poverty, waiting, legal uncertainty, and social pressures intersect, small initiatives become symbols with great human impact.
The humanitarian context in Turkey in 2022
By the end of 2022, Turkey was hosting one of the largest concentrations of Syrian refugees in the world. According to data from the Turkish Directorate of Migration Management, cited in the Syrians Barometer 2022 report, the number of Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey reached 3,535,898 on 31 December 2022, compared with 3,737,369 at the end of 2021. The report attributed this decline to several factors, including voluntary return, naturalization, record updates, the easing of some restrictions, and the movement of some Syrians to other countries.
Although the general image of Syrian refugees is often reduced to “camps,” the reality in 2022 was different. Syrians in Turkey had largely become urban refugees living in cities and towns rather than in camps. According to the same report, only 47,525 Syrians were living in temporary accommodation centers, or about 1.34% of the total Syrians under temporary protection, while more than 3.48 million Syrians were living outside camps, distributed across various Turkish provinces. The remaining camps were located in provinces such as Hatay, Kilis, Adana, Kahramanmaraş, and Osmaniye.
This shift from camp to city made children’s needs more complex. In the city, food or emergency aid alone is not enough. Families need rent, transportation, clothing, stationery, school integration, protection from dropout, and help facing discrimination, poverty, or child labor. That is why supporting Syrian students with school bags and uniforms was direct help at a sensitive point: keeping the child in school instead of pushing them toward isolation or the early labor market.
Where were Syrians distributed?
According to 2022 data, Syrians in Turkey were distributed between major border provinces and major economic cities. Syrians Barometer 2022 noted that Syrian distribution is known through registration data, but it also pointed out that the place of registration does not always reflect the actual place of residence, especially in major cities and western regions, where many Syrians moved in search of work and services. The report also explained that there were nine Turkish provinces with more than 100,000 registered Syrians, and that this concentration created additional pressure on public services and contributed to increased poverty and access problems in some areas.
In this reality, the school was not just an educational institution, but a space of protection. A Syrian child who enters school with appropriate clothing and a bag similar to those carried by peers is less likely to feel stigma or isolation. From here came the importance of the “We want to learn!” program, because it approached education from a practical and human angle: providing what the child needs to go to school with dignity, rather than merely making general calls for education.
Living conditions and economic pressures
Turkey in 2022 experienced major economic and livelihood pressures. The Turkey chapter in the 3RP 2023–2025 Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan indicated that the decline in the Turkish lira’s value and rising inflation led to higher costs of fuel, food, and basic goods, and that Syrians under temporary protection, along with international protection applicants, were among the groups most affected by income loss and unemployment after the pandemic and by the rapid rise in the cost of living. The report also noted that social tensions, competition for jobs, misinformation, and language barriers increased pressure on relations between refugees and host communities.
In 2022 as well, policies related to registration and residence became stricter. The 3RP report noted the closure of nearly 1,200 neighborhoods to the registration of new foreigners due to foreign population density, and that the address verification process disrupted the status of about 600,000 Syrians under temporary protection, before the status of more than 160,000 of them was later reactivated. These measures increased anxiety among Syrians, especially since the loss of legal status or a mismatch between place of residence and place of registration can affect access to public services and formal work.
Within this context, supporting Syrian children educationally and culturally was more than a charitable intervention. It was a small contribution to confronting a chain of risks: poverty, school dropout, loss of trust, and the erosion of a sense of the future. The grant provided by the Center for Environmental and Social Development to SAR YARDIMLASMA DERNEGI aimed to help children continue their education, provide school supplies and clothing to ease the burden on families, and at the same time open space for gifted children in music and the arts so their talents would not be buried under the weight of displacement.
Art and music as part of recovery
The Center for Environmental and Social Development believes that education is not limited to books and notebooks, and that a child who survived war also needs expression, play, singing, drawing, and music. That is why supporting gifted children in the arts and music was an important part of the spirit of this initiative. For a refugee child, talent is not a luxury; it may be the first way to rebuild self-confidence, build healthy relationships with their surroundings, and move out of the circle of trauma and silence.
Through cooperation with SAR YARDIMLASMA DERNEGI in Turkey, the Center for Environmental and Social Development sought to direct a limited grant with a clear purpose: to support Syrian children at a difficult moment, and to affirm that education, culture, and art remain essential tools for protecting the new Syrian generation from loss.
This grant comes within a broader vision adopted by the Center for Environmental and Social Development, as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization registered in the United States, which publishes its tax records and financial reports on its official website, and affirms its commitment to transparency and humanitarian and civic work. In 2022, Syrians in Turkey were living through a complex phase: most were outside camps, dispersed across cities, facing rising living costs, registration pressures, integration challenges, and the risks of educational dropout. In the midst of this scene, the CESD grant to SAR YARDIMLASMA DERNEGI came as a practical message: that supporting the Syrian child does not begin only with food and shelter, but also with the school bag, clothing, notebook, musical instrument, color, song, and the space that allows them to learn and dream again.
About the Author
