Education: Developing Self Reliance for Female Syrian Refugees in Host Communities

The Syrian refugee crisis has displaced millions of Syrians, leaving them without homes, resources, or any means of re-establishing self reliance. Given the immediate need for survival, education has become a luxury for many families. Issues of accessibility, quality, and societal resentment from Jordanians avert Syrians from seeking an education. This inhibits female children from productively developing their intellectuality and culminates in being susceptible to detrimental practices, like child marriage. This study looks at the reason for low enrollment rates of Syrian female refugee children into the Jordanian education system. The research specifically interviews daughters and their guardians about their experiences with the education system in Jordan. Reasons for not prioritizing school range from child marriage, to hostility between both Syrian and Jordanian students, to inaccessibility because of simple system failures. That being said, education has been deemed a universal right by the international community and will provide more options to those that choose to partake than those that do not. It has been proven that women who choose to seek an education will become more economically productive for their unstable household income, as well as more incentivized to engage positively in community affairs. This study is significant because the researcher determined the powerful influence of guardians on their children. With the encouragement of her mother, a girl will more likely pursue self reliance and this will ultimately place her in a more favorable position of independence and career based success. The research is relevant to bodies that aim at improving the education system in Jordan to incentivize girls and their guardians to persist with their educations