Education for all in times of crisis: access to school for Syrian refugee children in Turkey

• 340 more schools
• Safe and reliable school attendance now possible
• EUR 405 million for school infrastructure

Today, on behalf of the European Union, KfW signed a financing agreement with the Turkish Ministry of National Education for the third phase of the project “Education for all in times of crisis (EUR 100 million). The funds for the project will be provided by the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRIT) and the EU. The aim is to provide access to education for all children living in Turkey, in particular the approximately 1 million Syrian refugee children. Often the existing infrastructure cannot meet the additional demand as school capacity in Turkey is inadequate. Over all three phases, EUR 405 million from FRIT and the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (MADAD) will thus be used to build 340 more schools and kindergartens and create 143,000 school places. The new schools are located in the host communities, mainly in 19 provinces of south-eastern Turkey, but also in Istanbul and Ankara.

“Turkey is the largest refugee host country in the world. KfW is therefore supporting the country in building new schools to enable all Syrian refugee children to attend school in a safe learning environment and to provide them with opportunities for the future. We are helping Turkey to prevent a lost generation,” says Dr Joachim Nagel, Member of KfW Group's Executive Board.

In the third phase, modern kindergartens and pre-schools as well as model schools will be built with innovative and sustainable designs in line with the latest energy, environmental and educational concepts. Turkish children are also benefiting from the expansion of the school infrastructure.

Further information about KfW Development Bank can be found at: www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/International-financing/KfW-Entwicklungsbank/.