Specialist Psychological Counselor Burcu Okur from the Refugee Rights Association held a talk with elementary education students as a guest speaker in the “Education of Children at Risk” course in the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Education Faculty, Elementary Education Department program. Burcu Okur, who provided detailed information about the mission of the Refugee Rights Association and its activities, talked about the need and importance of the integration of children in education and the sustainability of their education. Okur also provided information to teacher candidates regarding practical methods and suggestions that can be applied in their educational programs.
During the talk, which took place in an interactive way with the questions and feedback from the students taking the Education of Children at Risk course, ideas were shared on the effects of the university-non-governmental collaborations and voluntary work in order to ensure that children who live in disadvantaged conditions due to many factors other than themselves can benefit from equal opportunities, and to create unprejudiced, inclusive and rights-based standards in education.
After the talk, course coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eda Yazgın and EMU Elementary Education Department Chair Prof. Dr. Ayşe Işık Gürşimşek expressed their gratitude for hosting Burcu Okur, a successful and productive EMU graduate, at the university she graduated from. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yazgın and Prof. Dr. Gürşimşek also expressed their wish to have similar collaborative activities in the future.