Digital education for Syrian refugee children

In July, after nearly one year and a half of lockdown and distance learning, the children participating in the Lab4Future could finally come back to the centres and attend the activities in person. The government restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been eased and our classes could reopen and welcome again the children for in-person activities.

The lockdown period has been difficult for everyone and keeping children engaged while working only remotely has not been easy. However, our staff in Gaziantep took up the challenge and managed to find subjects, online platforms, tools and a way of teaching that could be adapted to remote learning even in the long-term. The results have been positive and the majority of the children kept following the lessons and doing their homework throughout the whole period, even with limited face-to-face interactions.

However, we all know that in-person activities are better, especially for children. It is important for them to have a direct contact with TSF’s instructors, to meet their friends and find the welcoming atmosphere typical of our centres and of the Lab4Future activities. To help you better understand why it is so important for the children to be back in the centres, we thought the best way would be to have them explain directly the reasons. Below are their words when we asked them why it is important for them to be back in the centres and why they prefer in-person activities.

Fatima, 15: “I love the center a lot because I meet my friends there and learn useful things like robots, computers and the Arabic language. I was very happy when it opened. Face-to-face lessons are better because I understand my lessons more and I can work with my friends on robot activities jointly and thus we understand them more.”

Muna, 14: “I am happy to return to the center because I benefit a lot from the lessons and activities that I take at the center. Face-to-face lessons are much better because I can interact with the teacher more.”

Hamze, 12: “I am happy to return to the center because the lessons and activities at the center are fun and because I miss my friends and teachers. Face-to-face lessons are better because the teacher can explain the topic in a faster way and we understand it faster.”

Muhamad, 11: “Returning to the center is important for me because at the center I always learn new and useful things. I was very happy when the center reopened because I was feeling very bored after the long lockdown period. Face-to-face lessons are much better because I can understand my lessons more and can do robot activities.”