Educational Challenges that Syrian Refugee Students with Disabilities Experience

Since the beginning of civil war in Syria, Türkiye has been receiving millions of Syrian refugees. Based on the reports of Ministry of National Education (MONE) in Türkiye, more than one million refugees in Türkiye are at school age. Children are one of the most effected groups from the refugee flow. The related literature indicated that lack of communication and language skills, limited support by parents, economic and cultural differences were reported as educational challenges that typically developing Syrian refugee children in Türkiye have been experiencing. There are few studies explored the educational challenges that Syrian refugee children with disabilities have ben experiencing. Thus, this study explored the educational challenges that Syrian refugee children with disabilities experiencing. A structured and a semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight parents of refugee children with disabilities and eight teachers of students. This study found that, language and communication barriers, cultural differences, economic issues, limited cooperation, and lack of educational materials were the challenges regarding education of refugee children with disabilities. This study provided implications for practice and suggestions for future research.Keywords: Educational Challenge, Syrian, Refugee, Disability, Parent, Teacher