Conditional Cash Transfers for Education (CCTE)

The project in brief

Implemented by

Ministry of Family  and Social Services (MoFSS) - Turkey

Country

Turkey

Duration

From 2003 - Ongoing

Description

Conditional Cash Transfers for Education (CCTE) is a national social assistance programme implemented by the MoFLSS since 2003. After Syria Crises, in 2017 extension of the CCTE programme to Syrians under temporary protection and other refugees is being implemented through a partnership between the MoFLSS, the Ministry of National Education, the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and it is funded by DG ECHO. Total budget of the program is 239.000.000 Euro, so far 207.251.509,60 Euro of the total amount has been expended.

Project aims

The programme aims to increase the number of refugee children in schools by promoting school attendance, reducing drop-out rates, and encouraging enrolment

Resources used

CCTE program is implemented under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRIT) mechanism.

Main activities of the Good Practice 

Payments to beneficiaries are made on bi-monthly basis (Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov) on the condition of regular school attendance. At least 80% monthly school attendance is required for payment eligibility in any month. The amounts paid depend on the gender and grades of the school-going children.

As of April in 2020, Kindergarten and primary school children (from kindergarten to 8^th grade) are entitled to a monthly amount of 45 TRY for boys and 50 TRY for girls. Similarly, students in high school (from 9^th to 12^th grade) receive monthly an amount of 55 TRY for boys and 75 TRY TL for girls. However, these amounts are updated in November 2021 as follows: students in high school receive 90 TRY for girls and 70 TRY for boys. Similarly, kindergarten and primary school children receive 60 TRY for girls and 55 TRY for boys. Furthermore, 100 TRY per beneficiary child is paid at the beginning of each semester to support families to meet additional expenses associated with the beginning of a school term. As of September 2019, among beneficiaries, children in grades 5 to 8 receive an additional top-up of 100 TL at the beginning of the term and children in grades 9 to 12 (as well as ALP) receive an additional top-up of 150 TL at the beginning of the term. Students in ALP receive a monthly amount of  90 TL regardless of gender for each month they regularly attend classes.

In addition, in order to mitigate the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic an additional payment of 4.500.000 Euro was allocated to 518.794 beneficiaries. 

CCTE also includes a child protection component, which is implemented in partnership with UNICEF. This component aims at sustaining positive education outcomes; mitigating child protection risks and violations, which are closely intertwined with economic vulnerabilities (such as child labour, child marriage, physical and emotional violence and family separation) and reducing the damage caused by exposure of children to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect, and family separation.

Partners

• European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Directorate General (ECHO)
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
• Ministry of National Education (MoNE)
• Turkish Red Crescent (TRC)

How challenges were overcome 

Majority of refugees in Turkey live in towns and cities; not in camps. Therefore, preventing social tension between them and the host communities was one of the major challenges. In order to address this challenge, the transfer value for the CCTE is the same as the amount that Turkish citizens benefit through national CCTE.

The need for education support is necessary for any kind of expectation for human capital development. And over 1 million refugees in Turkey are children. It should be noted that these needs are not a fixed quantity but will fluctuate depending on the changing number of refugees and estimated time of their stay in Turkey. The Turkish education system has made great progress in its integration of refugees but will find ensuring continuity of this progress a challenge without significantly higher national resources and/or additional donor support. There is no budgetary space or policy arrangement at present to allow for continuing funding the CCTE without external support. Therefore, the funding of the CCTE programme must continue as long as refugee situations continue.

Results of the Good Practice

• As of October 2021 the number of enrollment in school among refugees is 928.485.
• As of December, 780.464 of refugees were applied for CCTE and 760.858 of applicants become beneficiary at least one time.
• Through the child protection component to ensure continued school enrolment and attendance of most vulnerable refugee children, as of October 2021, the outreach teams consisting of social workers reached 108.105 children. To mitigate child protection risks and violations, which are closely intertwined with economic vulnerabilities, 10.031 children are referred to specialized services.

How the project meets the GCR Objectives

Objective 2: Enhance refugee self-reliance

To prevent a lost generation by supporting school continuation of refugee children.

Next steps 

The funding of the CCTE programme must continue as long as refugee situations continue.

Further support required for the project to continue or scale up

External funding is crucial in order to continuation of the programme.