Aleppo University and Refugee Career Jumpstart Project

fluent English speaker: Karina was studying economics at Aleppo University, when the fighting broke out, according to CBC. Even though she a more fluent English speaker than most of the recent arrivals, her written English wasn't at the level required for writing a university essay. English is a key employment barrier facing Toronto Syrian newcomers. For the past two months, Kheshvajian has been learning to write essays and prepare presentations at SEC, one of three language academies in Toronto to offer scholarships to Syrian refugees — part of the Refugee Career Jumpstart Project . Corporations contribute $750K to help Syrian refugees pay for housing in Toronto​ The Jumpstart project is the brainchild of three close friends, all Syrian-Canadians who wanted to help their fellow Syrians when they began arriving by the hundreds in December of 2015, part of the Liberal government pledge to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the following spring. Today, they've compiled job-skill profiles for 350 Syrian refugees and are planning to add hundreds more by the end of the year. At first Mustafa Alio, Bassel Ramli, and Omar Salaymeh pledged they would each help five refugees find jobs. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.