Back to School for Iraqi Refugee Children

By Laura Sheahen

The little boy opens his textbook proudly and begins reading a poem about chipmunks storing nuts. Perhaps it wouldn't be a surprising accomplishment for a 7-year-old—that is, if the boy weren't an Iraqi refugee in Lebanon, reading the poem in a new language he'd just learned. Raised speaking only Arabic, he began learning French in his adoptive country, where most classes—even science and math—are conducted in French. Thanks to the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, a CRS partner, he's been able to transition smoothly to a whole new school system.

Two million Iraqis have fled their homeland and are struggling to keep afloat in urban centers of the Middle East. Many can barely afford food or the rent payments on their small apartments. For some Iraqis, keeping their kids in school is a dream they've had to let go of, especially in countries where immigrant children are not allowed to attend public schools. As refugees stay longer and longer in host countries, a whole generation of Iraqi children is at risk of growing up without an education.

Catholic Relief Services has stepped into the gap by providing Iraqi kids with tuition money for inexpensive private schools in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. Sama, a 13-year-old girl whose family left Iraq for Jordan, now attends the Greek Catholic School in the capital city of Amman. With help from CRS partner Caritas Jordan, her brother and three of her sisters go there too.

"It's different from my old school, but I've gotten used to it," Sama says, describing her classes in Arabic, English, social studies, religion, art and more. She has been at the school for the two years since her family left Iraq. Unlike most Iraqi refugees, her family was not explicitly threatened in her homeland, but left because of the country's general insecurity.

Though school is going well, Sama worries about her family's situation. "My father used to have a job, but now he stays at home," she says. Most Iraqi refugees are not allowed work permits in their new countries, and talented adults with job skills have no way to support their families. "It's hard," Sama says.

Eighteen-year-old Rami, who also attends the Greek Catholic School, has similar concerns. "My family doesn't have residency" in Jordan, where they arrived from Iraq in 2003. Luckily, Rami's father has a job in an advertising print shop, but works there from morning to midnight to support his seven children. "He's very tired, but he can't quit, he has to work."

Rami is working too—on his studies. "I had to work harder on math to catch up to the kids here," he says. Because the Iraqi school system differs from those of other Middle Eastern countries, Iraqi children often have to play catch-up on lessons. CRS funds special classes for them so they can get up to speed. Rami spent several years in these classes before switching to the Greek Catholic School, where 46 of the 250 students are Iraqi. All the Iraqi students receive financial support—about one-third of each year's tuition—from Caritas Jordan. With help from CRS, Caritas supports students at eight schools in Amman and more schools outside the city.

Now, Rami grins as he describes what he wants to do in the future. He likes computer programming and Photoshop, and hopes to have a career in computers.

For her part, Sama wants to be a doctor. She's doing well in her classes and is on the road there. "Thank God, we are studying in school," she says. "We're receiving an education and everything is good."

Laura Sheahen is CRS' regional information officer for Europe and the Middle East. She is based in Cairo.