School Principals Views on Syrian Refugee Students ’ Education in Turkey : Challenges and Recommendations

The aim of the present study was to identify the administrative problems that school principals face at schools in the city located in the east of Turkey with high Syrian student population and to provide suggestions for overcoming these problems. The city is a province in Turkey having the highest ratio of Syrian to Turkish population with 95.61 %. Therefore, the city is an important topic for the education and social integration of Syrian students. Based on the findings, it has been identified that school principals experience problems such as language and communication problems, crowded classrooms and environments, registration uncertainties, accordance between the parents (Turkish-Syrian), school culture, discipline and behavior. In addition, problems were also identified under headings such as financial resource insufficiency, personnel requirements and in-service training requirements. It has been emphasized that making courses more active, increasing the number of course hours for the targeted culture language will be more beneficial for overcoming the language issues. It has also been indicated that equal distribution of Syrian students to the schools and balancing the student ratio in the province through the use of transportation options if necessary will also be beneficial.


INTRODUCTION
The immigration activity starting from Syria in 2011 due to the civil war in Syria is the most important immigration wave towards Turkey that has taken place in recent years. This immigration wave started in April 2011 with 252 people reaching up to 3 million 645 thousand 140 people since the start of the civil war according to the January 2021 data of the Directorate General of Migration Management. This number has placed Turkey among the top ranked countries affected from migration activities throughout history (GIGM, 2021;Güçer et al., 2013).
In 1951, Turkey signed the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its addendum the 1968 Protocol with a "geographical limitation". It has been set forth due to this limitation that only those fleeing from European countries can be considered as "refugees". While those who immigrated to Turkey from Syria were first considered as refugees; a new status definition soon became necessary due to the ongoing domestic conflict in Syria, the significant increase in the number of refugees and the decrease of their possibilities to return back to their countries. Syrians were taken under the status of "temporary protection" within the scope of the Temporary Protection Regulation that went into effect in 2014.
people. Shelter Centers are 22 container cities established in 10 provinces and 23.397 people live in one container cities in the province of the city within the scope of our study and it is reported based on the official numbers that there are 130.746 Syrian citizens living in the city. With these numbers, the city is ranked number one among the provinces in Turkey with 95.61% indicating the ratio of Syrian citizens to the local population (GIGM, 2018). Attention has been given to meet the educational requirements of Syrian citizens since the start of the mass immigration and policies have been developed for this purpose. These students have started their education at state schools within the scope of such policies in order to ensure their integration to the Turkish Education System. Minimizing the problems that may be encountered during integration will speed up the integration process thereby preventing any loss of time.
In this regard, it is important to identify the problems faced by principals at official state schools in the city located in the east of Turkey where Syrian students within the scope of temporary protection are continuing their education and their suggestions for the solution of these problems.

Purpose of the Study
Hence, the primary objective of the present study was to "identify the problems faced by principals at official state schools in the city where Syrian students within the scope of temporary protection are continuing their education and their suggestions for the solution of these problems. School principals are not the only decision makers of integration in education. However, they play a determining role with regard to the implementation of school processes. Similarly, school principals are able to carry out a comparison between policy-implementation since they have the opportunity to view the situation from the perspective of schools as an area of implementation where integration policies meet with individuals. Lack of including the opinions of the other actors in the integration process may be considered as a limitation. However, the opinions of school principals are important for their holistic perspective with regard to the processes implemented at schools.
Thus, a new perspective will be attained with regard to the obstacles at the school level related with the integration of Syrian students and possible solutions while making a contribution to ensuring that the integration is more successful.

Research Design
The study was conducted based on the case study pattern from among the qualitative research models with an effort to understand the current situation at schools at which there is a high Syrian student population density. A specific case is examined and described in depth during case studies. Case studies enable us to see the events in detail, develop explanations and make assessments (Merriam, 1998).

Study Group
The school principals who took part in the study group were selected via criterion sampling which is one of the random sampling methods. The primary education schools (1st and 2nd level) in the province of the city with the highest number of Syrian students were identified for the selection of school principals subject to interviews. Interviews were conducted with principals of three secondary schools and seven primary schools within the scope of the predetermined criteria. Descriptive information about the study group is given in Table 1.

Data Collection Tools
The data were acquired in the present study using semi-structured interview method. The interview form consists of three sections. The 1st Section is related with participant attributes such as age, seniority, gender, education status, management experience. The 2nd Section includes questions related with the institution where the school principal works at such as the number of students and type of education. Whereas the 3rd Section contains a total of nine primary questions and 20 sub-questions on identifying the administrative problems at the school and solution suggestions. The required permits were obtained from the city Provincial Directorate of National Education prior to conducting interviews with the participants. The interviews were carried out based on the voluntariness of the participants. The participants were informed that the interviews will be recorded and it was guaranteed that the acquired data would remain confidential. The interviews lasted about 30 minutes on average.

Data Analysis
The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. The voice recordings obtained during the interviews were listened after which they were transcribed and classified under similar headings. The interviews were then coded and placed under certain categories following the analysis.

Validity and Reliability of the Study
Internal validity (credibility), external validity (transferability), internal reliability (consistency) and external reliability (verifiability) studies were conducted during the present study in order to ensure the validity and reliability of the study (Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2008). In-depth data acquisition was conducted during the interviews carried out in the reliable environment established for internal validity (credibility) as a result of the long term relationship with the participants. The interviews were recorded; after which they were transcribed and participant approvals were taken by permitting them to read the transcriptions. Experts were consulted during the interview form preparation and all stages of analysis. Analyses were carried out by two experts in the field of Education Management, Inspection, Planning and Economy during all stages of the study. One of the experts used content validity for examining the relationship between the results and questions; while the other expert examined the consistency between the acquired data and the coding.
Preliminary interviews were conducted with 23 individuals from among the school principals who have Syrian students at their schools when preparing the interview form in order to identify the question headings and these data were put into question form again in accordance with the opinions of expert academics. The interview form was finalized as a result of these processes. The opinions of the participants were quoted directly during the study for external validity (transferability) after which diversification and detailed descriptions were made. Literature were meticulously scanned to attain internal reliability. The findings and results of these studies were used to verify the reliability of the results of the present study. Data sources were defined clearly and details were provided with regard to how the interview form was prepared, how the interviews were conducted, how the analysis process was carried out and how the results were obtained in order to attain external reliability.

Language and Communication Problem
The participants were asked: "Do you experience any language and communication problems at your school because of the Syrian students?" All the participants stated that language and communication issue is the most important problem they experience. The opinions of some participants on this issue are presented below: Language is a major issue. We experienced problems both as principals and also as teachers. We actually wished that our Ministry would send the students to a one year adaptation program during which they learned the language instead of directly initiating the integration process, in this way we would at least not experience these problems as dramatically as this. (SPP2) It is clear that we are experiencing language problems, this lack of communication is present between the students, teachers-students, parents-teachers and parents-principals. (SPP4) …language is our biggest problem, our teacher colleagues first try to teach the language and then move on to academic education which causes a significant loss of time. (SPP6) It was observed when the opinions of the participants were examined that in general all of the school shareholders are experiencing a multidimensional communication problem between the teachers-students, teachers-parents, parents-administration with regard to the procedures and activities related with Syrian students. In this regard, Özer et al. (2016) put forth that the language barrier as the primary obstacle standing in the way of academic success also prevents the establishment of communication between the individuals thus becoming the primary issue in the education of refugees. Toker Gökçe and Acar (2018) also stated that the language problem is the most important drawback in the education of Syrian students. According to Aykırı (2017); the failure of the students to understand what they read and communication issue are the two major problems experienced with Syrian students. Language difference is the underlying factor for both problems. This has also been clearly emphasized by the teachers. Regarding the language problem in the educational dimension, Erdem's (2017) study illustrated that the teachers experience problems with the analysis dimension of the educational content in relation with refugee students, and that the language shortcomings are considered the primary issue when presenting the refugee students with the educational content rather than taking their prior knowledge into consideration.
The participants were then asked "What do you think is the underlying reason for this language issue?" as a continuation of the first question to which SPS1, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, and SPS8 coded participants responded by indicating that because of the large number of Syrian students they The participating school principals were coded as SPS1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPS7, SPS8, SPP9 and SPP10. "SP" denotes the word school principal; "S" is used to express the 2nd level that is the secondary school education whereas "P" represents the 1st level that is the primary school section do not need Turkish for communication and that they group among themselves and communicate with each other which leads to language problems. In this regard, it is possible to state that the formation of disconnected sub-cultures within the same school should be considered as the underlying reason for this issue: SPS1, SPP2 and SPS8 coded participants responded to the same question by referring to the delays in the integration of Syrian students. It was observed as a result of the study conducted by Istanbul Bilgi University Child Studies Department (2015) that Syrian children learn Turkish better when they start school at early ages for integration. The language barrier grows further as the age at which children start school increases and older Syrian children have to be registered at the classrooms of smaller children because they do not know how to read and write in Turkish. This may have an adverse impact on the subjective well-being of the students who are individual subjects in themselves and also may result in peer bullying. Therefore, the language issue and the current solution results in difficulties that should be coped by the Syrian children as well as the teachers and the other children in the same classroom.

Opinions on Overcoming the Language and Communication Problem
The participants were asked: "How do you overcome the language issue at your school, how do you establish communication? What do you do to overcome this problem? Are these beneficial?" to which they suggested three solutions as assigning a translator, ensuring that there are Turkmen students in the classrooms as "child translators" and language courses. The participants stated that they use appointed translators at their schools in order to establish communication with the Syrian students and parents. The opinions of some of the participants on this issue are presented below: ...we were appointed a Translator to overcome the language issue. These individuals [I mean one person] actually helped us to overcome this issue. (SPP2) We have appointed translators at schools and we try to establish communication through them. (SPS7) I actually think that our translators work very hard. We have language issues and we use the help of these translators intensively in order to minimize the language issue and establish communication between the teacher and the administration and the Syrian parents. (SPP3) It was observed when the opinions of the participants were examined that even though the translators play an active role at the schools some participants have indicated that the translators lead to a loss of time in communication and that they experience problems because the translators add their own interpretations. Moreover, it was also observed that the lack of any criteria and assessment procedure for translator selection led to the use of incompetent people resulting in the failure to establish the desired communication. Expressions similar to the participant opinions have been put forth by Emin (2016) as obtained from the administrators of the Temporary Education Center in Ankara indicate that communication between Syrian children and teachers was established by way of the staff members which prevented the establishment of a healthy communication between the Syrian teacher-student and administrators. It can be put forth that the quality of the education environments is reduced due to the fact that translators are not selected from among educated people well-versed in pedagogy.
As a different method in overcoming the language problem, the participants said that they equally distribute Syrian students with a good level of Turkish between each classroom and that these individuals act as "child translators" partially helping in overcoming the language problems. Participant opinions on this issue were as such: We tried to distribute the Turkmen children equally to each classroom as 'child guides'. Actually these children worked more actively than the translators and the teachers started overcoming the problems in the classroom with the help of these children. (SPP3) ...there were various communication issues. We saw that there are Turkmen students among those who came from [Syria]. So we distributed them equally among the classrooms. We thought that these children can help the teachers as translators. (SPP10) It was put forth by Sarıtaş et al. (2016, p. 220) with regard to overcoming this problem that it was tried to make use of children who know Turkish in order to establish communication. A different method used for the integration of Syrian students to the Turkish education system was observed in another study as the placement of Syrian students who can talk Turkish next to the Syrian students who do not know Turkish (Şahin & Sümer, 2018). According to Aktay and Gültekin (2015) peer cooperation is a form of cooperation which is based on the development of new contexts by the peers within a socio-cultural context and establishing their own social environments through interaction. It is possible to state that through this type of cooperation individuals were able to reflect their own socio-cultural environments, actualize peer cooperation in different contexts in each community and acquire different experiences with regard to education as individuals representing the society. The participants put forth that language courses have been started at their schools by educators appointed within the scope of the project entitled Promoting Integration of Syrian Kids into the Turkish Education System (PIKTES). The opinions of various participants on this issue were as follows: ...there are educators appointed for language education within the scope of PİCTES at the schools and we start courses to provide continuous education on the Turkish language so that these problems will end as soon as possible. These efforts are ongoing. (SPS1) We have friends appointed within the scope of the PİCTES Project. These friends of ours provide special courses for students in 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students who have not yet learned Turkish. (SPP2) It was observed when the opinions of the participants were examined that the school principals have stated that language courses are beneficial in the process of learning a language. The participants put forth that language courses are started at their schools for all students and parents who demand it.

The Problem of High Syrian Student Population
The question of, "Does the Syrian student population at your school have a balanced distribution for integration when compared with the general population of the school?" was directed at the participants during the interviews to which majority of the participants stated that they started registering Syrian students to Turkish schools following the obligation to do so put into practice by the Ministry of Education in order to ensure a healthy integration but they failed to meet the classroom quota of 30 % Syrian students and that the population of Syrian students exceeds the assigned quota which leads to problems. The opinions of various participants who indicated that the aforementioned issue leads to problems are presented below: We (SPP5) It can be understood based on the participant opinions that the Directorates of National Education requested through the MoNE that the Syrian student population should not exceed 30 % in order to attain a balance in the classroom but even this percentage could not be met. It is also clearly understood when participant opinions are examined that despite the strategy of the MoNE (2016) to distribute students with weak Turkish language skills equally among the classrooms for overcoming the high population issue of Syrian students and to ensure that they learn the language through experience by integrating with their peers, the objectives have still not been met at the end of the 2 year process.

Opinions on the Overpopulation of Syrian Students
The participants were asked, "What kind of activities did you carry out for the problem of the overpopulation of Syrian students? Were these successful?" to which all participants responded in a similar manner. The opinions of participants coded as SPS1 and SPP3 are given below: This We tried to equalize the number of Turkish and Syrian students in these 11 classrooms with relative success but when we opened 3 new classrooms after the recent registrations we had to make them all Syrian students because we would not be able to establish a balance there. And so the students in these classrooms lagged behind the others in both language learning and academic achievement. (SPP3) School principals put forth that they could not find any solution apart from opening new classrooms because the population balance would be disrupted if they distributed the Syrian students to all other branches. However, they also stated that they were faced with another problem when Syrian students lagged behind in learning Turkish.

Enrollment Hinterland Problem at Schools
The participants were asked, "Do you experience problems at your school related with the enrollment of Syrian students?". Almost all of the participants stated that the Enrollment Zone application used during the enrollment of Turkish students includes some errors and that they experience problems because of this. The opinions of some of the participants on this issue are presented below: Our The participants stated that the overpopulation at their schools is because some of the schools do not enroll the Syrian students. The student who cannot enroll at these schools then goes to other schools which do not create any problems during enrollment. They have stated that this is the reason for the immense overpopulation of Syrian students at some schools. There is no consensus on the applied practices among schools with regard to this issue. While one of the schools tries to overcome the enrollment problem, the other school has isolated itself from this issue. Whereas the school principal who tries to solve the issue is faced with a different problem due to the increase of student population. It attracts attention that there is a lack of a clear practice and follow-up policy regarding enrollment zone and enrollment conditions.

Opinions on the Solution of the Enrollment Hinterland Issues
Since all participants perceived the concept of enrollment as a hinterland that is an enrollment zone issue, they were asked, "How do you overcome the Enrollment Zone (Hinterland) issue that you are faced with? Are you successful with these solution methods?" Opinions of some of the participants are provided below: . (SPP3) It can be observed when participant opinions are examined that they cannot find a solution at the school level for this problem. As can be seen from the statements of school principals, this solution can be overcome through new practices to be developed by policymakers. All participants agree that this problem may be overcome by shifting the Syrian student overpopulation to other schools with a lower Syrian student population.

Problems of Cultural Cohesion Among the Parents
The participants were asked, "Did you experience any cultural issues between the parents of the Syrian and Turkish students?" To which some of the participants responded as follows: There The participants put forth that even though at first there were no ethnicity related reactions among the Turkish parents with regard to the education of students together, they especially received reactions from Turkish parents and experienced administrative problems as a result. Similarly, Harunoğulları and Cengiz (2015) expressed in their study that a certain amount of time should pass in order for people from different cultures to come together and live in harmony and that it is inevitable for people with different cultures and languages to integrate as a result of immigrations leading to social changes and cultural cohesion.

Opinions on Solving the Problems of Cultural Cohesion Among the Parents
The participants were asked, "What kind of methods did you implement for overcoming the problems of cultural cohesion among parents that you mentioned? Were they successful?" To which the participants responded as: . As can be seen from the participant opinions, mostly discussions have been made with the parents in order to convince them. School principals have stated that they establish empathy by giving examples. What attracts attention here is that rather than a planned approach, individual initiatives are employed more frequently against the possible conflicts that may develop between the parents.

Problems of Adaptation to School Culture, Discipline and Behavior
The school principals were asked, "Do Syrian students experience cohesion to school culture with regard to discipline and behavior?". Majority of the participants stated that the Syrian children have an inclination to violence and that even the games they play are related with fighting. The opinions of some of the participants on this issue are provided below: They (SPP9) It was observed when the expressions of the participants were examined that majority stated because the children come from a war zone and because there are a lot of children in the households their desires and needs cannot be met and that some children have lost their mothers or fathers during the war or that there is domestic violence in the household leading to behavioral problems.

Methods Applied for Overcoming the School Culture Cohesion of Syrian Students
The question of, "What are the methods you are implementing in order to overcome the problems related with the cohesion of Syrian students to school culture?" was directed to the participants to which they responded as follows: We are trying to overcome this issue through discussions with the families, we emphasize this in the classrooms and at school. (SPS7) We call in their parents and try to overcome the problem through communication. We also contact them by phone and try to establish discipline in this manner. However, lack of discipline and obedience to the rules in general are still ongoing. (SPS1) It was observed when the expressions were examined that majority of the school principals stated with regard to the problems encountered that they contact the parents and tell them about the problem and that they carry out guidance activities with the students. The participants also stated that these problems are still ongoing despite all the measures taken and that they are trying to overcome these issues by continuing the guidance activities.

Academic Achievement Problem
The participants were asked, "Do you experience academic achievement problems in classrooms with high Syrian student population?" to which majority of the participants stated that academic achievement is low for Syrian students because learning Turkish is a slow process leading to problems in understanding what they hear during classes. It has been put forth that the low academic achievement leads to failures in reaching the desired acquisitions in the planned amount of time and that the Turkish students in the same classroom are also affected from this and thus lag behind in the curriculum. The opinions on this issue are presented below: .  (2017) conducted a study as a result of which it was reported that Syrian students who will start the 1st, 5th and 9th grades should enroll at state schools within the scope of compulsory education thus leading to problems related with teaching Turkish. Syrian students placed in mixed classrooms with either weak Turkish levels or with no knowledge of Turkish have to struggle simultaneously in two different tracks of learning. On the one hand they have to learn Turkish while on the other hand they are faced with the difficulties of learning courses such as life sciences, mathematics, physics, history which are part of the curriculum. It was observed that the assumption of, "The Syrian students will surely learn Turkish over time when they are mixed in with the Turkish students in the same classroom" did not work for 5th and 9th grade classrooms. Syrian students fail to keep track of the course content while they are struggling with learning Turkish. As a result, in some cases this may lead to isolation. Şimşir and Dilmaç (2018) carried out a study as a result of which they reported that the academic problems encountered by foreign students are failure to understand the course, literacy problems, not completing the homework, lack of attention towards the course and curriculum differences while the academic problems encountered by Turkish students are related with disruption in the flow of the courses, distraction during classes and academic level differences.

Opinions on the Solutions of Academic Achievement Problem
The participants were asked about their opinions on how to solve the academic achievement problem. The opinions of the participant were as follows: The weight of this problem can only decrease or be eliminated when Syrian students overcome their language problems. In addition, the number of Syrian students should also decrease. (SPS7) …I am quite pessimistic about this issue. How can it be, the number of Syrians increases every day and so there is no balance at schools. We have to teach the language to Syrian children. Perhaps this should be our priority.
And for this we have to open up new language courses. We are already late, this problem should either be resolved now or both these children (Syrians) and our students will sink deeper. (SPS8) It was observed when the participant opinions were examined that the primary suggestion for overcoming this problem is related with the Syrian students learning the language and overcoming their problems related with comprehension.
Hence, it is indicated by the school principals that opening new and effective language courses may be an option for overcoming this problem.

Financing Issues at Schools
The participants were asked, "Did you experience resource problems when the number of Syrian students at your school increased?". All of the participants stated that they had no allowance beforehand and that they had difficulties and now that the situation is even more critical with the increase in the number of students and that they cannot receive the required support and aid from the Directorate of National Education. The opinions of some of the participants on this issue are presented below: ...we already had problems about this issue beforehand. And now the needs increased even further when Syrian students came. We experience difficulties in finding access to resources. We were told that the Ministry of National Education will help us but there is nothing yet.

(SPS7)
As you know at the beginning of every year the schools are given a certain allocation with regard to stationary and cleaning supply requirement. We received this allocation but they were not enough when the number of students increased suddenly. (SPP10) The school principals stated that they experienced problems due to the lack of an autonomous budget of their own when the Syrian student population was not high at their schools. This has become an even more major issue with the enrollment of Syrian students and the need has increased even further with the enrollment of Syrian students especially regarding stationary and cleaning supplies. The participants stated that they cannot find any resources despite the increase of financial needs and that the Directorates of National Education either do not provide economic support at all or provide a limited support.

Opinions on Overcoming the Financing Problem
The participants were asked, "So, how did you overcome the problem of finding resources to continue the activities of your school?". The participant opinions on this question were as follows: We receive very meager support within the scope of the PİCTES project. We could barely finish 1 month if we were to use only the support provided by the Ministry of National Education. And so we end up meeting our own demands. We use the finances from the parent-teacher association accounts. (SPP4) ...since our school is used as a TEC in the afternoon, we can get some supplies as a result. We sometimes have to use our own resources or the resources of the parent-teacher association. And sometimes we join in with our own labor. As an example we will paint the school garden ourselves this weekend. (SPP5) We receive support from UNICEF. We have no problems but I cannot say that it is enough. We founded the School Parent-Teacher Association but it is not active. I mean we cannot run the school as a Turkish school. Meeting participation is generally low. (SPP9) The participants have indicated that they are trying to overcome the financing issues at their schools through the Parent-Teacher associations and projects related with the integration of Syrian students. They stated that they sometimes meet their own needs through laboring themselves when these options remain insufficient. Whereas the participant coded as SPP9 said that he cannot run the Parent-Teacher Association due to the fact that all his students are Syrian students and the lack of sufficient parent interest. When all these are taken into consideration, even though the school principals strive to overcome the financing issue, there seems to be no other effective solution other than the central government providing autonomous and sufficient budgets to the schools. However, it should be noted at this point that the schools have financing problems related with additional requirements as well. Main financing options related with personnel expenses and investment costs are met by the public budget. There is financing for the small current requirements of the schools. However, the fact that this requirement is not met centrally through a need based rational formula enabling the schools to make autonomous payments leads to the principals to consider financing as a problem.

Personnel Requirement and Solution Suggestions
The participants were asked, "Are you experience problems at your school related with lack of personnel? If you do, how do you overcome this problem and what would be your suggestion to overcome this issue? The opinions of the participants on this subject are presented below: Of course, we are due to the increase in the number of students. is affected when they go. Teachers on permanent staff would be better. (SPP5) All participants put forth that the personnel requirement at their schools increased even further when Syrian students started their education. They indicated that they especially struggle with cleaning personnel related with cleaning, maintenance and repair services due to the increase in the number of students. In addition, they also emphasized that the teacher requirement is tried to be overcome with waged teachers which leads to gaps in education because these teachers are appointed from every branch and they have attendance issues. The school principals indicated that teachers should be appointed as permanent staff members instead of as waged workers. They also set forth that service personnel employment cannot also be overcome with temporary appointments and that working with workers on permanent staff will be more efficient. The participant coded SPP4 also indicated in addition to the other requirements that they also need a principal.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Language is the biggest issue in the education of Syrian students. Hence, education which is mostly related with communication is significantly affected from the language problem. Many studies in the literature (Cin, 2018;Erdem, 2017;Levent & Çayak, 2017;Kiremit et al., 2018;Mercan Uzun & Bütün, 2016;Sarıer, 2020;Sarıtaş et al., 2016;Tosun et al., 2018) one of the difficulties encountered in the refugee students studying in Turkey and perhaps seen as the most important of the language problem. In meta-synthesis study by Sarıer (2020), it was concluded that refugee students had communication problems due to language problem, could not express themselves, had difficulty learning language, and resisted learning. This is observed as a multidimensional communication problem involving student-teacher, student-student, and parent-principal. Studies in the literature (Aykırı, 2017;Sarıtaş et al., 2016) revealed that Syrian parents also had difficulties in communicating due to language differences and parents were indifferent. It has been observed that the language and communication problems experienced by the students are mostly related with the fact that Syrian students do not need Turkish because of the large number of Syrian students at schools and that they communicate among each other's in groups. In addition, late responses of policy makers with regard to integration emerge as one of the factors preventing the resolving of the problem. The large population of Syrian students at schools attracts attention as another factor leading to problems. Even though the Directorate of National Education set the Syrian student quota at schools as 30 % and requested the school principals to act accordingly, the fact that Syrian students enrolled at the schools they want prevented the actualization of this quota. In addition, it can also be considered as a conflicting attitude by the MoNE to place a quota and to state that Syrians can enroll at any school they desire. It can be interpreted that it has not been possible to establish a relationship between the policy and implementation and that the results have not been followed up. The "child translator" practice for overcoming the language problem in the classrooms is significant. Even though it is a temporary solution, it is understood that it has enabled the resolution of an important issue in practice. Intermediation in the classroom by a student who knows both Turkish and Syrian Arabic may have significant contributions such as developing empathy among the students, improving language skills and contributions to social life. The fact that child translators are used not only in teacher-student communication but also in teacher-parent communication is another clue regarding the effectiveness of the method. On the other hand, child translators should not be burdened with this responsibility. In addition, it can be said that there should be effective institutionalized policies to solve the language problem.
The fact that enrollment zones have not been taken into consideration during the enrollment of Syrian students has led to an increase in population at some schools. Some school principals do not accept enrollment using the quota in place for Syrian students as an excuse. It is observed clearly that these school principals act against the orders of authorities by taking initiative. Because while they have been able to isolate their own schools from Syrian students, such behaviors have led to a web of problems in other schools. As a result, the population of Syrian students has increased at certain schools and indeed it has reached 100% at one of the schools included in the study.
Various individual events have taken place between the Turkish-Syrian parents following the enrollment of Syrian students to state schools but an ethnicity conflict has not been the underlying reason of these incidents. The problems between the parents have generally been observed to be related with cultural disharmony, difference in hygiene understanding among the students and injustice related with the distribution of help to the students. These superficial differences have led to various problems experienced in relation with the students adapting to the school culture. These problems have been determined to emerge as behavioral problems which are thought to be related with the impact of the trauma since they came from a war zone, being subject to domestic violence and living with a crowded family resulting in lack of attention. Hence, the implementation of psychological programs can be emphasized in order to reduce the impacts of the traumas experienced by refugee students.
Syrian students have started their regular education with the curriculum of the MoNE, as there is no special curriculum for refugee education (Aydın & Kaya, 2019;Demir Başaran, 2020;Erdem, 2017;Ereş, 2016;Kardeş & Akman, 2018;Yavuz & Mızrak, 2016). When these students enroll in public schools, teachers do not adapt the course content following these students' needs and interests. Syrian students have started their education in accordance with the MoNE curriculum following their enrollment to state schools. It is observed that majority of these students have come from TECs who have not yet overcome the language and the resulting comprehension issues. Students have started receiving Turkish courses while these problems were ongoing thereby facing academic failure in measurement and assessment stages. This has led to a lack of interest towards the lessons. The Syrian students who have strayed away from the lessons have started causing distractions at classrooms. Decrease in the academic achievements of Turkish students is also observed since the classroom environment is not suited for teaching. This has led to a decrease in general academic achievement at schools. In the study of Sakız (2016), it was stated that most of the school administrators support the education of immigrant children in separated environments, disrupt the flow of their schools and have negative attitudes towards their education in public schools.
It is known that primary schools experienced financial problems due to the lack of sufficient resource allocation from the central budget for meeting their small expenses (repair, maintenance etc.). The increase in capacity following the enrollment of Syrian students has further deepened this problem. School principals seeking additional budgets have resorted to using the Parent-Teacher Associations more effectively. Even though partial financing was found as a result, it was observed that the funds were still insufficient. As a matter of fact, Parent-Teacher Association could not even be put into practice at the school consisting fully of Syrian students. Even though it is indicated that aids from international institutions are distributed to the schools from time to time within the scope of various projects through Directorates of National Education, it can be understood that the authorities do not act in a just manner when distributing these resources. Relations between the authorities and school principals through individual affiliations or through unions are considered to be the underlying reason for this unfair distribution.
The need for teachers, service and technical personnel has also increased following the increase of the number of students at schools. The employment of temporary, waged and contracted personnel for overcoming this problem has failed to resolve the issue and has even further intensified it. Because temporary and waged personnel can quit their jobs whenever they want, it has been observed that school principals have experienced problems related especially to lesson integrity and attendance. Because employees in temporary status are devoid of any work security that has an impact on their loyalty to the institution, they can easily give up when they are faced with problems. Therefore, it is possible to state that it is required as an important policy to implement personnel regimes that will enable those working in the education of refugee students to have job security.