Canadá: Why education is challenging but crucial for Syrian refugees

Canadá/Diciembre de 2016/Autoras: Caroline Alphonso, Simona Chiose/Fuente: The Globe and Mail

RESUMEN:  Alrededor de la mitad de los refugiados que han llegado de Siria a Canadá sólo tienen una educación secundaria. Otros carecen de pruebas de que han completado la educación superior o deben encontrar una manera de validar grados de un país sumido en un conflicto. Si tienen sus credenciales, a menudo deben actualizarlos para cumplir con los requisitos de acreditación de los organismos profesionales aquí, o enfrentar el trabajo en puestos de trabajo para los que están sobre-calificados. En estas situaciones, las generaciones más jóvenes que asisten a la escuela en Canadá se convierten en una línea de vida inmediata para sus familias. Los estudiantes de Siria son diferentes de los refugiados de otros países en que muchos todavía tienen familia y amigos dejados atrás. «Hasta cierto punto, hay presión para apoyar a las familias que todavía están en un campo de refugiados o en Siria», dijo Michelle Manks, coordinadora del programa de estudiantes y refugiados para el Servicio Universitario Mundial de Canadá.

About half of the refugees who have arrived in Canada from Syria have only a high-school education. Others lack proof that they completed higher education or must find a way to validate degrees from a country plunged into conflict. If they have their credentials, they must often upgrade them to meet the accreditation requirements of professional bodies here, or face working in jobs for which they are overqualified.

In these situations, younger generations who attend school in Canada become an immediate lifeline for their families. Students from Syria are different from refugees from other countries in that many still have family and friends left behind.

“To an extent, there is pressure to support the families who are still in a refugee camp or in Syria,” said Michelle Manks, co-ordinator of the student-refugee program for World University Service of Canada.

So far, Canada has not had to plan for or accommodate the large-scale education issues faced by Germany, where hundreds of thousands of refugee students are expected to arrive within a year or two, or Sweden, where tens of thousands of people under 18 have come alone.

The demand for Canada’s refuge may grow if the United States cuts foreign aid or reduces the number of refugees it accepts, as president-elect Donald Trump has stated he would do, Ms. Manks said, echoing warnings from other international refugee groups.

“The United States is the biggest funder by far of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” she said. “If Trump makes changes to that, it will have a huge impact on refugee protection around the world.”

Should the number of refugees enrolling in elementary, high-school and postsecondary education increase, the programs currently in place provide one model for what works and the scale of the investment needed.

Fuente: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/syrian-refugees-to-canada-and-education/article33237207/