Hitit Ekonomi ve Politika Dergisi (Dec 2022)
THE STUDY OF STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS REFUGEE STUDENTS STUDYING IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL ANATOLIAN HIGH SCHOOLS
Abstract
According to the 2019 United Nations (UN) global migration data, about 272 million people worldwide, in other words, 3.5% of the world's population consists of international migrants. Almost every country has been affected by worldwide migration. The world has witnessed mass population movements, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. It is known that more than 175 million people have massively migrated during the last fifty-year period. As a result of the forced migrations of refugees, new country’s and region’s security and stability can be affected by changing the economic, social, cultural and political structures of the region. Due to its geographical location, Turkey opened its doors to migrants, protected those in need, and is also respected by the world. Turkey has had a thousand years old well-established migration tradition. Recently, as a result of increasing violent and intense social conflicts, political and military uncertainties, regional upheavals, etc., in the Middle East, quite a large number of people come to the borders of Turkey and seek asylum by fleeing the conflict areas of neighbouring countries such as Syria, Iraq, Iran, where Turkey is culturally and geographically has close borders. The issue of migration is at the top of the agenda not only in the states receiving migration, but also in all geographies where globalization is felt or experienced intensively, it also concerns everyone and every structure. The fact that Syrian citizens who started migrating in 2011 did not return to their countries and started settling in Turkey caused a difference in Turkish education policies. As the case in all societies, children are the weakest, most fragile and highest risk group in the migrant community. Schools are places where the dominant culture is acquired in terms of the social harmony of children. In this context, schools are seen as an important factor in terms of the integration of refugee students with society. In this study, the attitudes of students studying in Vocational and Technical Anatolian High Schools towards refugee students in their schools were examined. For this purpose, Refugee Student Attitude Scale (RSAS) developed by Sağlam and Kanbur (2017) was addressed to 610 students studying in Vocational and Technical Anatolian High schools located in the central and districts of Çorum province. Results of the analyses showed that the students’ attitudes which was grouped as communication, harmony and competence partially differ in terms of age, gender, grade level of the students and whether there are refugee students in the classroom.
