Preparing Syrian scholarship holders for future leadership tasks

Commencement of supporting programme on Rule of Law and Good Governance at the University of Konstanz

Bonn, 11.11.2016. A total of 221 Syrian students with a scholarship of the “Leadership for Syria” programme started to study at a German university in the winter semester 2015/16. The programme is run by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Foreign Office and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Master degree students and doctoral candidates are obliged to take part in a supporting programme designed to familiarise them with social, political, academic and economic structures of free democratic legal systems. The University of Konstanz has been selected by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to conduct the blended learning programme for its scholarship holders. Irrespective of the degree subject studied, the 2-semester course teaches skills and competencies required for future reconstruction of the country.

“The extra-curricular course is a valuable addition to the degree courses of our scholarship holders. The knowledge gained will help them to rebuild their country. We have high hopes for these young, talented individuals, for whom we make it possible to study or continue their studies in Germany,” explains DAAD President Prof. Margret Wintermantel. Most of the Syrian scholarship holders study natural or engineering science subjects.

The supporting programme is taught by 18 lecturers in the fields of psychology and the political, administrative and economic sciences at the University of Konstanz. An understanding of a democratic society is promoted through conveyance of western models of democracy and constitutional states, the fundamentals of leadership as well as governance and administrative practice. The programme conducted by the Academy for Further Academic Education (Akademie für Wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung, AFWW) of the University of Konstanz, is composed of e-learning modules and three attendance phases, which are carried out in cooperation with the Center for Technology-Enhanced Learning (Zentrum für Mediales Lernen, ZML) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Apart from the knowledge gained, the opportunity to develop a network is intended to assist the programme participants after their return to Syria.