SPARK scholarship helps over a hundred Syrian Kurds graduate from KRI universities

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—102 Syrian Kurds were honored in a recent graduation ceremony after receiving bachelor degrees from universities in the Kurdistan Region. 

The students attended various institutions with the support of a scholarship funded by a number of international organizations, administered by the Dutch organization SPARK. 

The scholarship, which was first awarded in 2015, is allocated to students who study four year bachelor's degree programs at public universities.

Rahel Aziz, the head of SPARK's Erbil office, said SPARK's Higher Education Scholarship program gave hope to "disappointed" Syrian refugees. 

"We have provided material and financial aid to these students from Rojava since 2015 because they were in Kurdistan Region for a long time and a great number of them were disappointed at Kurdistan Region's camps," he told Rudaw English yesterday. 

He then added, "These students will soon be a principal factor for the reconstruction of Rojava." Rojava is the Kurdish name for the autonomous region of Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Mr. Aziz also stated that that SPARK is working with the EU to provide more scholarships for both Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, and developing programs to help graduates find jobs.

 In the 2018-2019 academic year, 152 Kurds from northeast Syria graduated from Kurdistan Region's universities. Of those, 102 were supported by the SPARK scholarship. 

Approximately 850 Syrian Kurds are currently matriculated at universities in the Kurdistan Region, including 310 new students who just started their four year degree programs this academic year.

Yildiz Nimat graduated from Salahaddin University's medical physics department. She now teaches at a private institute in Erbil.  "After we left our country [Syria] we thought we lost our home and family and friends... but [after starting my study] things got better - thanks to God, SPARK and Kurdistan Region," she told Rudaw.

Sayran Nuraddin is another Syrian Kurd. She graduated from Salahaddin University's Chemistry department. "We can help our society and develop our country," Nuraddin told Rudaw when asked how the scholarship offer had benefited her and her fellow students.

According to a report from Kurdistan Region's Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC), about 230,000 refugees have fled from Syria to the Kurdistan Region since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011.

The JCC reported on Sunday that about 16,000 additional refugees have arrived in the Kurdistan Region since October 9 of this year, when Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring against the SDF in northern Syria.

Additional reporting by  Mahdi Faraj