HOPES (Higher and Further Education Opportunities and Perspectives for Syrians)
HOPES is a direct reaction to the Syrian crisis with the objective of empowering young people from Syria to build their own career paths by directly addressing their education needs. Funded by the European Union´s Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis - THE MADAD FUND - the project provides a wide range of educational offers to Syrian refugees in host countries: Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.
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HOPES Overview:
Primary beneficiaries will be Syrian refugees of post-secondary-age as well as young people in host communities affected by the high influx of refugees.
Spanning over 4 years -from April 2016 until November 2019- Hopes aims to improve prospects for young Syrians and to contribute to the preparation for post-crisis reconstruction in Syria. The project will increase participation and provide better access to quality further and higher education opportunities in the neighbouring region for vulnerable Syrian youth as well as host communities.
Our Partners:
HOPES is implemented by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in collaboration with its partners from British Council, Campus France and EP-Nuffic.
Scope of Work:
The Programme consists of several work packages; Academic Counselling, the Scholarship Fund, the English Access Programme, Calls for Proposals and Stakeholder Dialogue:
- Academic Counselling: Education Officers located in the five target countries will inform Syrian refugees and vulnerable people from host communities about access to tertiary education opportunities in their country.
- Scholarship Fund: Full academic scholarships will be provided through a Scholarship Fund, thus facilitating further study opportunities at local institutions. Scholarships will be mainly awarded to candidates at Bachelor/Master Degree levels and with a particular focus on students who had to interrupt their studies in Syria due to the conflict.
- English Access Programme: Students will benefit from university-based English and study skills courses. The courses will consist of 100 hours of face to face classes with a British Council trained local teacher, blended with a 40-hour online British Council course. English training is necessary as a greater part of courses in all host countries is taught in English than in Syria where even courses such as medicine are taught in 100% Arabic. English skills will also help learners apply for and receive scholarships and access other educational opportunities in their host countries and improve their opportunities for employment where these are available.
- Calls for Proposals: Two Calls for Proposals will be published to fund innovative education offers by local providers targeting refugees and vulnerable people form host communities. A particular focus is on credit-based short courses as well as on flexible, creative learning interventions. The Programme also supports capacity-building of local institutions.
- Stakeholder Dialogue: This initiative aims to facilitate coordination between stakeholders in the region in order to exchange good practice, coordinate interventions and assure effectiveness. Two regional policy conferences as well as country-based dialogues will be organised to develop joint strategies for addressing the needs of the refugee population.
For more information click here.