This week sees the exciting launch of the online scholarship application Spark-syria.eu for SPARK’s higher education 4 Syrians (HES) programme. Amidst the devastation of the civil war HES supports Syrians who face the challenge of re-building their country with scholarships and mentoring, giving hope at a time when they need it most. It will also go some way to stemming the tide of migration from the MENA region. SPARK aims to enroll a total of 10,000 Syrian students in the regions onto certified short courses, vocational or bachelor education in a range of subjects. To reach part of this target SPARK has recently been awarded 8 million USD from Qatari foundation Education Above All to support 600 students through four years of study.

Working together in the region

SPARK also supports the host countries as they enroll new migrants through educational institutions. SPARK has partner agreements with approximately 18 education institutions and supports them with capacity building. Students are also mentored and supported to ensure successful completion of their education while student union structures will also be created and professionalized to support Syrians in cooperation with the European Student Union. SPARK will build the capacity of several educations institutes in the host countries and in Syria in order to professionalize them. Lastly, SPARK aims to bring together existing and new initiatives in the region by organizing several regional conferences on higher education.

Jordon & Lebanon

Further collaborations with education partners include institutions in Erbil (Kurdistan/Iraq), Gaziantep (Turkey) and Beirut (Lebanon) with scoping missions to expand its work in Jordan. Here SPARK has started working with Luminus Education, a leading education provider in the field of technical and vocational training in Jordan offering diploma programmes in various technical and vocational fields where 510 students will be placed. In Lebanon, the American University of Beirut offered SPARK a 35% reduction on selected certified short courses, tailored to the needs of our students.

Kurdistan/Iraq & Turkey

SPARK has also signed agreements with numerous organizations and national authorities in the region to enroll our students in a variety of courses. For example in Kurdistan/Iraq, the Ministry of Higher Education agreed to place 300 SPARK students at their public universities throughout the country. In Turkey, the University of Gaziantep placed 123 of our students, 98 of which are in the recently started Arabic programme.

Syria

Inside Syria, SPARK works with our own six HE institutions, each taking in 150 students yearly in the areas of agri-technology and nursing. Together with SPARK these educational institutions will be supported to ensure the Syrian diaspora does not become a lost generation.

The Syrian Civil War which erupted in the spring of 2011 has taken thousands of lives and has had enormous and devastating affects on infrastructure and economy. Syrian refugees face bleak life chances as one explain here: ‘If I don’t get accepted to university this year, I am going back to Syria to fight. At least I will do something useful there instead of sitting around all day doing nothing.’ There are now eight million displaced people within Syria, while about four million have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, 400,000 of which are between the ages of 18-24. This will have a long-term consequence for the future reconstruction of Syria, as these people now lack any meaningful opportunity to continue their education. Less than 5% of the displaced youth have access to education leaving them isolated which can lead to unrest and potential radicalization.

Please note: In August 2018 SPARK had no other option than to suspend the activities implemented by its partner organisations as the Syrian government took control in parts of the (until) then by SIG controller areas. Since August 2018 no activities have been implemented by our partner organisations in Syria/SIG controlled areas. SPARK has only been able to continue to support Syrian refugees in Turkey, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan.