The Starting Point
MOHAMAD SAFI
AT THE TIME WHEN I WAS WAITING FOR AN END TO MY ASYLUM PROCEDURES IN THE NETHERLANDS, I USED TO WORK AS A SUPERVISOR IN THE REFUGEES’ COMPUTER HALL. AT THAT TIME I WAS LOOKING FOR AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.
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But, unfortunately, it was not that easy. In fact, it was pretty hard, especially for a refugee like me who did not yet have the necessary documents. At the time, everything was incredibly slow due to the refugee crisis. One day, I noticed an African guy constantly coming to the computer hall, carrying papers and books. He would open a strange website and then start reading and studying. I wondered: What is this guy doing?! Until, finally, one day, I decided to ask him what he was doing. “I am studying at a university,” he said. “What!? What kind of university are you talking about? You are a refugee without any documentation yet. How can you do that?!” I said. Then he started to explain to me about the so-called Kiron Open Higher Education. “Kiron is an open online higher education project located in Germany, that you can participate in as soon as you can prove that you are an asylum seeker. It saves time for those refugees who are suffering from so many things, including the lack of documents required to start higher education. “You can choose your preferred specialization and start your studies directly online wherever you are. The first and second year, you study completely online, and for the third year, you move to a partner university where you can complete your studies on a real campus.” It was really interesting and very important thing for me to hear about Kiron from that guy. I sent my application through the Internet. I was then asked to take just two simple online tests to prove that I am eager to learn and willing to commit to the learning process. Kiron gave me a starting spark on my path to higher education and I learned a lot about online education platforms such as EdX, Coursera and Saylor Academy. I had access to so many online courses about so many topics and specializations. I liked this experience very much and I think that Kiron is doing its best to support refugees on a large
scale. They were able to recognize the real problems that most of the refugees in Europe face, such as a lack of documents and the need to learn a new language, and the fact that it might take a refugee several years to solve these problems on his own.
Above all, Kiron offers a starting point for every refugee who wants to learn.