"The Education of Immigrants Must Be Our Priority"

The first leg of the "Global Approaches to Global Challenges" conference organized by the Bahçeşehir University Department of Psychology was held at the BAU Berlin Campus. At the conference, opened with a speech by BAU Chair of the Board of Trustees Enver Yücel, speeches were given by Sandra Scheeres (Berlin Senator for Education and Science), Prof. Dr. Petra Stanat (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Selçuk Şirin (New York University), Dr. Brit Oppedal (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Prof. Dr. Nilüfer Narlı (BAU), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serap Özer (BAU) and Prof. Dr. Süheyla Schroeder (BAU). The issue underlined at the conference was the ever-increasing immigrant population in the world and the education problem of immigrants.

Drawing attention to the large increase in the number of immigrants and asylum seekers in the world, Enver Yücel stated that, according to United Nations data, there are approximately 214 million international migrants worldwide today. Noting that the number of migrants has increased by 40 percent in the last 10 years and that this creates problems for countries in many areas, especially security, education and cultural structure, Enver Yücelsaid: "Undoubtedly, both states and societies are making efforts to develop solutions to these problems. However, it would be a big mistake to see migration only as a problem. We must re-examine migration in all its aspects and in light of new developments."

"WE MUST SEE THE OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY MIGRATION"

Pointing out that threats must be turned into opportunities when it comes to migration, Enver Yücel said that Germany is by far the country with the largest number of Turkish immigrants in Europe. Yücelsaid: "Migration is a more global issue than ever. Immigrants make positive contributions to the countries and societies they go to. Indeed, we can see the most concrete examples of this in Germany. Turkish citizens who came to Germany as guest workers have made positive contributions to Europe's industry, science, social development and culture. But now we must educate the new generation of immigrants in better conditions. The possibility of people from different cultures living together smoothly and interactively depends on their level of education. You can achieve a culture of living together only through education. That is why, as an educational institution, we are accelerating our educational investments in Germany."

"WE WILL ESTABLISH A SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HIGH SCHOOL IN GERMANY"

Speaking in Berlin, the capital of Germany, Enver Yücel also announced new educational investments in Germany in addition to the BAU Berlin Campus. Stating that they will establish a science and technology high school in Berlin, Enver Yücelsaid: "As BAU, we have a campus in Berlin. However, we will turn it into an international university in compliance with German law. Another of our efforts is to establish a high school in Germany. We believe that this science and technology-focused high school will be an example for all of Europe. However, our request in this regard is that visas be lifted as soon as possible."