At Khan Academy we like to celebrate learning, and our mission is “a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere”. Today we are calling attention to June 20th being World Refugee Day. The people in this resilient group are a terrific example of our goal of supporting education in the face of barriers for historically under-resourced learners.
Many people think of Albert Einstein as a revolutionary scientist. At Khan Academy we also like to think of him as a terrific learner. Today we also remember that Einstein was a refugee of Nazi Germany. Not only did Einstein discover and learn many amazing things, but did so overcoming being forced out of his birthplace.
Today millions of people and potential learners face the extremely difficult reality of being forced to flee the places they call home. In these circumstances, the reality is that education, like many things, is a difficult thing to obtain as a refugee. This underpins the importance of spreading education and learning through whatever means are possible including Khan Academy which is now available in 50 languages.
This also includes our partners like Learning Equality, which uses its open source learning platform Kolibri to support learning with refugees and host communities by providing offline access to Khan Academy materials and other openly licensed resources. And our language advocate organization EduCareGeorgia / GiveInternet who brings Khan Academy content in Georgian and internet access/devices to refugee learners. Together we can empower anyone to reach their Einstein-like potential.
If you want to learn more about refugees feel free to check out our lesson on refugee resettlement in the United States. Also take a moment to learn more about one of the experiences of refugees in the world, learn a greeting in a new language, and learn about a neighbor from a different place. You can learn anything, and stand with anyone, anywhere. Happy World Refugee Day!
“Educators in Kakuma Refugee Camp engage with Learning Equality’s platform, Kolibri” [photo credit: Learning Equality]
“Refugee student in the country of Georgia, with device/internet from GiveInternet.org” [photo credit: EduCareGeorgia, GiveInternet.org]
