04/01/2017 (Agence Europe) – On 22 December, the European Commission announced it had signed contracts worth a total of €270 million for the construction and equipping of school buildings for Syrian refugee children and their host communities in Turkey. Under these contracts, some 100 schools are to be built and equipped, benefitting over 70,000 Syrian refugee children primarily in Turkey's southern and south-eastern provinces. The EU funding will also help the Turkish Ministry of National Education (MoNE) to manage educational infrastructure. The funding comes from the EU's Facility for Refugees in Turkey (€200 million as part of the €1.4 billion of the special measure adopted by the Commission at the end of July) and the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (€70 million). (CG)