Conduct outreach activities to assess the current situation of Syrian refugees residing in Ghor “Jordan Valley” and Irbid, with a focus on Education, and Child Protection.

Priorities

More advocacy for access to education and reducing barriers, esp girls education. Establish a presence-Help Desk for SCJ in order to conduct a proper awareness and advocacy to Syrian families in Ghor. Conduct field awareness sessions to promote the importance of education in order to change the rooted perception about education versus livelihoods amongst parents and working children. Rehabilitate the WASH facilities in schools as they are in bad shape. Activate the establishment of Parent Teacher Associations and Students Councils to defuse the level of stress and invest in the student’s energy with a more positive manner.

Main Findings

nomadic families, child labour, early marriage, barriers o education Syrian refugees in Jordan are young in age, and based on the UNHCR data, more than 50% of the registered families are below the age of 18 years.\ In Ghor: Only 52 Syrian students are registered in the schools in Ghor based on the MoE records. Girls Education in Ghor is alarming, and parents residing in farms expressed their fear to send their daughters to the schools on foot walking through the farms. Parents are over protective of young girls and prefer to keep them home. Respondents indicated that they have no information about registration. When children were asked about schooling, around 1,000 children expressed their desire to go back to schools and those were mostly from the younger age groups. One of the most important reasons not to be registered in schools is transportation especially for females and for children with disabilities. Child Labour is an alarming problem. Many of these children work in picking vegetables. 244 of Tawjihi students are out of school and are in the labour market. In Irbid: Parents, who are reluctant to send their children to school, emphasized that livelihoods are more crucial than education, especially due to the increase in rent. Most Syrian families, especially those who entered Jordan recently are under the impression that the crisis will end in the coming months, and eventually they will go back to Syria. For that reason, they do not see the significance of education over livelihoods. Over crowdedness in schools in Irbid prevents Syrian children from being enrolled in the formal education.