How the Turkish Press Is Covering Syrian Refugee Education: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Dire conditions caused by the ongoing civil war in Syria have forced millions of people to flee to neighbouring countries. In this context, the way Syrian refugees and irregular migrants are represented in the media carries great importance to understand the nature of public debates on the issue. Out of this need in large part, media representations of Syrians in question have become a key field of academic study in recent years. Coverage styles and discourses employed by news stories on Syrians have an important effect in increasing or reducing the public support mentioned above. It is clear that one of the most important areas in terms of problems encountered by the Syrians and their mutual interaction with Turkey's society and adaptation processes is education. Various educational services are carried out for the Syrians in Turkey, especially for children. The Ministry of National Education has developed various practices to solve the educational problems of the Syrians. It is known that children living in the refugee camps benefit more from these services. As a result of this, studies on Syrians and their educational problems have increased in recent years. This study is aimed at contributing to the field and policy makers by delving into educational and social problems faced by Syrians putting the highlight on media coverage.The main aim of this research which is designed as a qualitative study is to determine the basic perspectives of the newspapers in the context of Syrians and education and to make a general evaluation by examining the news in this sense. The news about the Syrians and education published in the national newspapers were included in the scope of the review, and the analysis of the news was based on critical discourse analysis.