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UNRWA Offering a Safe Future for Palestinian Students from Syria in Jordan

22 May 2014

As of May 2014, over 2,150 refugee children from Syria currently continue their education in the 173 UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools across Jordan. School helps maintain a modicum of normalcy in their lives, instil a sense of hope and equip these vulnerable children with the skills they will need to live happy and productive lives. Children from Syria are integrated in regular classes and follow the Jordanian curriculum.

The United States (Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of State), Kuwait, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Educate a Child Foundation (Qatar) and UNICEF have provided generous support to UNRWA to hire 57 teachers and 4 counsellors, procure thousands of textbooks and school furniture, and organize psychosocial and recreational activities. 

The UNRWA Amir Hasan Girls School #1 and Nuzha Preparatory Girls School #2 host high volumes of refugee students from Syria and demonstrate a coping model that is admired and adopted in other UNRWA schools across Jordan.

Of the Palestinian refugee children from Syria registered with the Agency in Jordan, 85 per cent are now enrolled in school. UNRWA Amir Hasan Girls School #1, South Amman. February 2014 © Alaa Ghosheh/UNRWA ArchivesGirls lining up to go to class. Often, Palestinian children from Syria come from impoverished and vulnerable families. Parents cite poverty, fear and trauma as reasons to not send their children to school. UNRWA continuously reaches out to these families to enrol their children and follow up with drop-outs.School parliament members prepare a puppet show. Amir Hasan Girls School #1 hosts 90 children from Syria. The students’ school parliament works with teachers and parents to keep children from Syria from slipping through the cracks by integrating the girls into the school community. “My school feels like my home and I am happy in Jordan”, says Amira* in flawless English. The school has instituted a ‘buddy system’ where children from Syria are paired with older students from Jordan to integrate them and prevent them from being bullied. Pictured here with her younger sister, Amira arrived in Jordan a year ago. She was the star of Human Rights Day and has consistently ranked first in her class. Remedial class for displaced students. UNRWA works with Balqa University volunteers to run remedial classes and psychosocial support for children from Syria. Many have missed one or more years of school and suffer from severe trauma due to war, loss and displacement. A puppet show. Creative tools such as theatre performances promote messages of friendship, acceptance and healthy living. Such activities encourage students to express their feelings constructively.Open day at Amir Hasan. Members of the student parliament health committee display health-promotion and disease-prevention materials during an open day. Topics included from smoking prevention, healthy diet and safe pedestrian crossing. Traditional foods from Syria. Mothers from Syria are encouraged to spend time at the school to learn about their children’s new environment and meet Jordanian mothers. In this safe community space, the students’ mothers often cook traditional dishes from Syria.Celebrating parents. Students perform a song and dance to celebrate the efforts of dedicated parent-volunteers. A teacher with her Palestinian student from Syria. At Amir Hasan Girls School #1, teachers received specialized training from local community-based organizations to equip them with the skills to identify and support students who may be struggling academically or emotionally. More such trainings are needed.Stories. “We are brothers in good and bad”, Haifa, 15, reads from the story she wrote about her family’s ordeal crossing into Jordan. They were not sure they would survive the journey as “shells rained down around us”. In 2013, UNRWA trained 18 school counsellors and 173 teacher counsellors to address the psychological needs of children from Syria.

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