The US Embassy in Athens has kickstarted an educational programme that saw more than 70 refugees return to higher education in October by enrolling in three American colleges in Greece.
The scholarship programme called “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus” allows refugee students to study at the American College of Thessaloniki-Anatolia College, Deree-American College of Greece and Perrotis College American Farm School of Thessaloniki.
According to a press statement by the US Embassy ‘’the beneficiaries of the program will attend preparatory English classes, courses in various fields based on their previous knowledge and academic training, and, fundamentally, they will have the opportunity to continue their education and acquire skills and credits that they will be able to use either in Greece or in any other country they move to in the future.”
More than 400 applications had been submitted with scores of refugees and asylum seekers interviewed for the programme.
For the first semester of the academic year 2017-2018, 48 students attend Deree in Athens, 14 students attend the American College of Thessaloniki, and 16 students started classes at the Perrotis College in Thessaloniki.
The Embassy said it collaborated with the ministries of Education and Migration Policy, the municipalities of Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus, the Asylum Service, NGOs, translation services and volunteers to attract the very best qualified applicants.
