so today I’m here to tell you about a
very inspiring woman I met this year
this is a cheetah from Syria when we
first met we were talking about her
experiences during her escape but we
were also talking about our educational
backgrounds she told me that she was
always very good at math and sciences
and because of this talent she applied
for a major in engineering at a syrian
university before she had to leave her
home now
her main motivation to study engineering
is that the dunya wants to go back to
Syria one day to contribute to our
country’s post-conflict reconstruction
efforts she also shared that it is
appealing for her to work in a
profession where women are typically
underrepresented so in order to study
him
Sajida made a very tough decision to
relocate to Belen while her family
remains in South Germany the reality
however looks somewhat different having
the skills to study as a refugee does
not mean that you received the
opportunity to do so so allow me to step
back a little and describe the current
situation on a macro level so cheetah is
one of the 65 million displaced people
worldwide who have to leave the home
because of war persecution or human
right violations this number represents
the largest displacement of people also
known as a forced migration since world
war ii in average refugees are spending
nearly 20 years in exile many of these
people are well educated and highly
skilled as well as able to meet European
standards yet currently just 1% of
college-aged refugees have access to
higher education in comparison 34
percent of young people worldwide are
attending university it has to be
pointed out that in Syria
loan 210,000 students were enrolled in
higher education before the outbreak of
civil war this does not include the
number of displaced people who wanted to
attend the university after completing
secondary education nor does it include
those who already attained the degree
which is not accepted abroad
this number does also not include the
many skilled refugees from other
conflicts come countries so we are
talking about thousands of refugees who
have the qualification to study but
according to the UN refugee agency
they’re facing four main barriers first
costs related to studying and
unclarified legal status limited
university capacities and the requested
level of language skills of the host
country for example if you want to study
in Germany you need to speak the second
highest level of German c1 it can take
years for someone to reach this
consequently we are dealing with the
last generation of young people with an
interrupted education as well as
education in general by putting the
potential of refugees on standby global
communities tolerate an uncertain state
without any hopes of self-determination
this is the last thing this is the issue
that could have lasting effects on both
the refugees home and host countries
generally for host countries the focus
lies on providing refugees with the
economic means to cover their most
fundamental and basic needs this
approach reflects the current aid
architecture in general only 2% of the
overall human terian aid worldwide is
spent on education by merrily just
securing the existence of refugees an
economic dependency between them and the
host country
is being facilitated because of this
dependency we prevent the transformation
of self-sustaining citizens who not just
have the ability but also the strong
desire to contribute to a host community
by paying not enough attention to the
role of Education in integration policy
can be discovered in some of the lasting
negative effects of previous inclusion
attempts for example in the 50s a time
of intense labor migration the
socio-economic focus was set on
rebuilding the country so immigrated
immigrants were seen as production
factors fueling the economic rolls
contrary to their role it is however a
known fact that those labor immigrants
were pushed into low paid jobs during
that time this short term solution still
impacts on the second and third
generation the children and
grandchildren of the aforementioned late
immigrants as well as the whole of our
society so the new generations are still
subjected to the stigma of its migration
background even though these people have
been born in Germany or naturally as
German citizens have a German passport
so we all still experience the pain of
separation seeing our society being
divided in we in Florence this is not
how the very society should look like in
order to rebuild a community worth
living in they have to be an investment
in education in higher education in
particular now even if it was
conceivable that all those potential
students would stay in many host
countries with ageing populations there
are sectors like engineering or AI team
with gaps of high skilled positions
would simply need to be filled so
imagine we are looking back in 10 years
or more and realized that it has become
way too late to employ a current
generation of refugees because what we
are facing is not an economic burden it
is a opportunity to benefit from a young
and educated labor force in general it
can be said that to maintain prosperity
in economic growth in Rudisill nation
have always relied on immigration the
need of higher education for Refugees
should also be thinned to the nasa t of
reconstructing water nations we need to
ask ourselves what kind of experiences
are people taking with them back home at
a returning burdened by experiences of
exclusion or other inspired by education
and their own intellectual awakening
which is needed to dissolve conflicts
now instead of shifting them into a even
less stable future a unesco study in 55
countries between 1986 and 2003
indicates that in regions where
education and equality doubled the
probability of conflicts increases
twofold
as well this correlation shows that
education is playing an integral role in
preventing conflicts so a high skilled
labor force is needed to rebuild a
country if and when conflicts come to an
end
therefore investing in higher education
for Refugees now can be seen as a
long-term strategy in reconstructing and
in stabilizing water Nations but this
approach could also potentially
transform post-conflict societies
because education is shaping the mindset
people are taking with them so as
mentioned we should strive to provide
those people with a positive inclusive
experiences of
fulfillment because the sense of
community and the awareness to the needs
of others is the factor that should form
the next future leadership that are
responsible for the development of
war-torn countries the approach to
empower refugees to live up their
potential as human beings will
undoubtedly shape and affect our future
encounters no matter what challenges we
are facing as humans or Nations the
empowerment education can promote
tolerance as well as the idea of a
global citizenship so to establish the
culture of empowerment in our society
and especially in our integration policy
we first need to take a look on how
integration has lived nowadays Western
societies can be characterized in broad
term by capitalism and economic
efficiency this means that an investment
need to have a plan able economic
expandin see so it seems that in some
cases the basis for political and social
decisions is rooted in the fear of
losing resources so how do we perceive
displaced people who search for shelter
in Western societies the wider scene is
often influenced by feelings like
compassion but also fear and dependence
so the classical way we think
integration is that we objectify humans
as something foreign this means that the
term integration itself indicates the
previously mentioned exclusion in this
aspects integration needs to be thought
and understood in a new light
real inclusion should enable people to
fulfill himself because only then an
individual
can be an active and equal part of the
society and become itself a contributor
to a host community so the social strata
I’m working with Karen was questioning
how can empowerment and inclusion of
rashers refugees through blended online
learning can look like and that came up
with a digital solution so straight from
the beginning I was very impressed how
the combination of digital tools and
engagement of civil society could help
to solve a global challenge so Karen is
a nonprofit organization offering access
to higher education for Refugees through
blended online learning online plundered
learning means the approach to combine
online and offline elements so what we
are doing is we are taking existing
educational resources so-called news
massive open online courses there are
courses from profit from professors of
Harvard or MIT who teach their classes
in form of online courses so we partner
with online course providers and put all
the online courses together in an online
curricular to form a study track the
content is in English and accessible on
a dare for created platform so the
students can study up to two years
online regardless of their legal status
for free and from everywhere in the
world because it’s online so the
barriers are presented to you before the
legal status costs University capacities
and language bill can be overcome in a
virtual space for example a traditional
classroom course which can be physically
teach to a maximum of hundred persons
can be accessible for thousands of
refugees by just using it online so
after the two years of online studying
the students can apply at a partner
University of Chiron to graduate with a
fully accredited degree because of
agreement for the universities
it is possible that the students can
transfer in the second study year so
this is a win-win situation for both the
refugees and the universities because
universities do have free seats in
higher semesters in some study drugs
because of dropout rates so Chiron can
be seen as a bridge builder between
refugees an academic institution to
bridge a time gap but also to give a new
perspective so this case shows that
digital tools can create an equal
opportunity for education and success
for refugees so let’s jump back to the
jitta what does all of this means for
her whose dream was to become an
engineer
she’s now one of our 2,000 students on
the current platform and she also
started working with us but she
experienced more than just an
opportunity to continue her education
she undergone a major shift in identity
from being seen as a refugee to be
perceived as a student by seeing as best
people just as refugees we can find them
in this category as they become aware of
this artificial separation they start
feel like the others
the strangers but the case of the
cheetah demonstrated there’s an
alternative way the alternative way is
to empower refugees through education to
live up their full potential because
displaced people do not depend on us in
the way we generally assume they do all
day request is the help to help
themselves this can we provide this can
be this can be by providing the means
and the tools to step forward in a
self-determined life with doesn’t mind
no justification for investment in
education and higher education in
general should be needed so the
integration policy in its entire team
does not have to be rethought because
there are already a few very good things
happen out there especially through
civic participation but they need to be
an awareness that survival is not enough
the potential of thousands of refugees
must be put in focus through substance
abstain ative and considerable
commitment education is not a guarantee
for stopping conflicts but it’s needed
to build to build sustainable peace and
prosperity in the future even though
this may be a challenge for nations
empowering through education and this
does not only mean higher education also
primary and secondary education is not
just a success factor for an individual
a society or an economy it is also a
success factor for all of us as a
community of nations thank you
[Applause]
very inspiring woman I met this year
this is a cheetah from Syria when we
first met we were talking about her
experiences during her escape but we
were also talking about our educational
backgrounds she told me that she was
always very good at math and sciences
and because of this talent she applied
for a major in engineering at a syrian
university before she had to leave her
home now
her main motivation to study engineering
is that the dunya wants to go back to
Syria one day to contribute to our
country’s post-conflict reconstruction
efforts she also shared that it is
appealing for her to work in a
profession where women are typically
underrepresented so in order to study
him
Sajida made a very tough decision to
relocate to Belen while her family
remains in South Germany the reality
however looks somewhat different having
the skills to study as a refugee does
not mean that you received the
opportunity to do so so allow me to step
back a little and describe the current
situation on a macro level so cheetah is
one of the 65 million displaced people
worldwide who have to leave the home
because of war persecution or human
right violations this number represents
the largest displacement of people also
known as a forced migration since world
war ii in average refugees are spending
nearly 20 years in exile many of these
people are well educated and highly
skilled as well as able to meet European
standards yet currently just 1% of
college-aged refugees have access to
higher education in comparison 34
percent of young people worldwide are
attending university it has to be
pointed out that in Syria
loan 210,000 students were enrolled in
higher education before the outbreak of
civil war this does not include the
number of displaced people who wanted to
attend the university after completing
secondary education nor does it include
those who already attained the degree
which is not accepted abroad
this number does also not include the
many skilled refugees from other
conflicts come countries so we are
talking about thousands of refugees who
have the qualification to study but
according to the UN refugee agency
they’re facing four main barriers first
costs related to studying and
unclarified legal status limited
university capacities and the requested
level of language skills of the host
country for example if you want to study
in Germany you need to speak the second
highest level of German c1 it can take
years for someone to reach this
consequently we are dealing with the
last generation of young people with an
interrupted education as well as
education in general by putting the
potential of refugees on standby global
communities tolerate an uncertain state
without any hopes of self-determination
this is the last thing this is the issue
that could have lasting effects on both
the refugees home and host countries
generally for host countries the focus
lies on providing refugees with the
economic means to cover their most
fundamental and basic needs this
approach reflects the current aid
architecture in general only 2% of the
overall human terian aid worldwide is
spent on education by merrily just
securing the existence of refugees an
economic dependency between them and the
host country
is being facilitated because of this
dependency we prevent the transformation
of self-sustaining citizens who not just
have the ability but also the strong
desire to contribute to a host community
by paying not enough attention to the
role of Education in integration policy
can be discovered in some of the lasting
negative effects of previous inclusion
attempts for example in the 50s a time
of intense labor migration the
socio-economic focus was set on
rebuilding the country so immigrated
immigrants were seen as production
factors fueling the economic rolls
contrary to their role it is however a
known fact that those labor immigrants
were pushed into low paid jobs during
that time this short term solution still
impacts on the second and third
generation the children and
grandchildren of the aforementioned late
immigrants as well as the whole of our
society so the new generations are still
subjected to the stigma of its migration
background even though these people have
been born in Germany or naturally as
German citizens have a German passport
so we all still experience the pain of
separation seeing our society being
divided in we in Florence this is not
how the very society should look like in
order to rebuild a community worth
living in they have to be an investment
in education in higher education in
particular now even if it was
conceivable that all those potential
students would stay in many host
countries with ageing populations there
are sectors like engineering or AI team
with gaps of high skilled positions
would simply need to be filled so
imagine we are looking back in 10 years
or more and realized that it has become
way too late to employ a current
generation of refugees because what we
are facing is not an economic burden it
is a opportunity to benefit from a young
and educated labor force in general it
can be said that to maintain prosperity
in economic growth in Rudisill nation
have always relied on immigration the
need of higher education for Refugees
should also be thinned to the nasa t of
reconstructing water nations we need to
ask ourselves what kind of experiences
are people taking with them back home at
a returning burdened by experiences of
exclusion or other inspired by education
and their own intellectual awakening
which is needed to dissolve conflicts
now instead of shifting them into a even
less stable future a unesco study in 55
countries between 1986 and 2003
indicates that in regions where
education and equality doubled the
probability of conflicts increases
twofold
as well this correlation shows that
education is playing an integral role in
preventing conflicts so a high skilled
labor force is needed to rebuild a
country if and when conflicts come to an
end
therefore investing in higher education
for Refugees now can be seen as a
long-term strategy in reconstructing and
in stabilizing water Nations but this
approach could also potentially
transform post-conflict societies
because education is shaping the mindset
people are taking with them so as
mentioned we should strive to provide
those people with a positive inclusive
experiences of
fulfillment because the sense of
community and the awareness to the needs
of others is the factor that should form
the next future leadership that are
responsible for the development of
war-torn countries the approach to
empower refugees to live up their
potential as human beings will
undoubtedly shape and affect our future
encounters no matter what challenges we
are facing as humans or Nations the
empowerment education can promote
tolerance as well as the idea of a
global citizenship so to establish the
culture of empowerment in our society
and especially in our integration policy
we first need to take a look on how
integration has lived nowadays Western
societies can be characterized in broad
term by capitalism and economic
efficiency this means that an investment
need to have a plan able economic
expandin see so it seems that in some
cases the basis for political and social
decisions is rooted in the fear of
losing resources so how do we perceive
displaced people who search for shelter
in Western societies the wider scene is
often influenced by feelings like
compassion but also fear and dependence
so the classical way we think
integration is that we objectify humans
as something foreign this means that the
term integration itself indicates the
previously mentioned exclusion in this
aspects integration needs to be thought
and understood in a new light
real inclusion should enable people to
fulfill himself because only then an
individual
can be an active and equal part of the
society and become itself a contributor
to a host community so the social strata
I’m working with Karen was questioning
how can empowerment and inclusion of
rashers refugees through blended online
learning can look like and that came up
with a digital solution so straight from
the beginning I was very impressed how
the combination of digital tools and
engagement of civil society could help
to solve a global challenge so Karen is
a nonprofit organization offering access
to higher education for Refugees through
blended online learning online plundered
learning means the approach to combine
online and offline elements so what we
are doing is we are taking existing
educational resources so-called news
massive open online courses there are
courses from profit from professors of
Harvard or MIT who teach their classes
in form of online courses so we partner
with online course providers and put all
the online courses together in an online
curricular to form a study track the
content is in English and accessible on
a dare for created platform so the
students can study up to two years
online regardless of their legal status
for free and from everywhere in the
world because it’s online so the
barriers are presented to you before the
legal status costs University capacities
and language bill can be overcome in a
virtual space for example a traditional
classroom course which can be physically
teach to a maximum of hundred persons
can be accessible for thousands of
refugees by just using it online so
after the two years of online studying
the students can apply at a partner
University of Chiron to graduate with a
fully accredited degree because of
agreement for the universities
it is possible that the students can
transfer in the second study year so
this is a win-win situation for both the
refugees and the universities because
universities do have free seats in
higher semesters in some study drugs
because of dropout rates so Chiron can
be seen as a bridge builder between
refugees an academic institution to
bridge a time gap but also to give a new
perspective so this case shows that
digital tools can create an equal
opportunity for education and success
for refugees so let’s jump back to the
jitta what does all of this means for
her whose dream was to become an
engineer
she’s now one of our 2,000 students on
the current platform and she also
started working with us but she
experienced more than just an
opportunity to continue her education
she undergone a major shift in identity
from being seen as a refugee to be
perceived as a student by seeing as best
people just as refugees we can find them
in this category as they become aware of
this artificial separation they start
feel like the others
the strangers but the case of the
cheetah demonstrated there’s an
alternative way the alternative way is
to empower refugees through education to
live up their full potential because
displaced people do not depend on us in
the way we generally assume they do all
day request is the help to help
themselves this can we provide this can
be this can be by providing the means
and the tools to step forward in a
self-determined life with doesn’t mind
no justification for investment in
education and higher education in
general should be needed so the
integration policy in its entire team
does not have to be rethought because
there are already a few very good things
happen out there especially through
civic participation but they need to be
an awareness that survival is not enough
the potential of thousands of refugees
must be put in focus through substance
abstain ative and considerable
commitment education is not a guarantee
for stopping conflicts but it’s needed
to build to build sustainable peace and
prosperity in the future even though
this may be a challenge for nations
empowering through education and this
does not only mean higher education also
primary and secondary education is not
just a success factor for an individual
a society or an economy it is also a
success factor for all of us as a
community of nations thank you
[Applause]
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