GEC’s contribution to the coordination of the Education response to Türkiye and Syria earthquakes

The three earthquakes which hit southeastern Türkiye in February 2023 have had a catastrophic impact on the education infrastructure, system, children and teachers. Based on information shared by national education authorities, out of the 8,162 educational buildings inspected so far, 42% have been impacted and 11% will require to be either completely rebuilt or go through major structural rehabilitation.

As a result, approximately 4 million children in Türkiye, including 350,000 refugee and migrant children, have had their education interrupted and moved to temporary sites or non-affected provinces (252,000 so far).

In Northwest Syria, school infrastructure was already in a critical condition before the earthquakes with over 40% of school-aged children out-of-school in the region. The earthquakes have exacerbated the existing crisis, with projections of over 1 million children at risk of being out-of-school.

Ensuring a prompt return to quality education is a priority.  The Global Education Cluster has bolstered its support to the Northwest Syria Cluster. The GEC has also provided remote technical support for a rapid needs assessment in Northwest Syria and produced a guidance with tools specific to an earthquake response. Additionally, UNICEF has deployed an Emergency Response Team Senior Coordinator to support the Cluster. 

In Türkiye, the GEC is deploying one Rapid Response Team Member to support coordination, with focus on temporary learning spaces, psycho-social support and messaging around safe back to school and needs assessments. 

Learn more here:
Resource Menu for Earthquake Coordination Response