Encouraging Muslims’ integration in the German society, the federal government has launched a scholarship program to elevate the skills of the Muslim students in all disciplines.
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“It is a first in German history, as for the first time 65 young Muslims were awarded scholarships and this is expected to rise to 500 people in the years to come,” Bülent Uçar, chairman of Avicenna Studienwerk, told Today’s Zaman on Tuesday, November 18.
Sponsored by the governmental Avicenna Studienwerk scheme, the scholarships aim to support the talented, motivated and socially committed Muslim students in Germany.
During their scholarship, Muslim students will get at least 670 Euros per month along with additional 300 Euros, while PhD students will receive 1,150 euros per month.
Avicenna Studienwerk organization was praised for being the first governmental organization to cater to Muslims’ needs in the academic field.
Uçar underlined that it was important that the project “gives support to young academics and paves a clear way for them.”
Germany has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some 5 percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.
Avicenna Studienwerk is not the first institute to teach Islam in Germany, reported On-Islam.
In 2012, Tubingen University opened the country's first department of Islamic theology to educate a new generation of enlightened Muslim preachers
In 2009, public schools allowed Muslims to study their faith for the first time in Germany.
Starting point
Praising the initiative, financial supporters of the scholarship program described it as a starting point to offer more educational opportunities for Germans from migrant backgrounds.
“We were aware that many migrants [in Germany] are from religious backgrounds and so we had to deal with this religious topic … and then we decided to invest in this Avicenna project to provide educational opportunities for migrants,” Wolfgang Rohe, executive director of the Mercator Foundation, one of the main financial supporters of Avicenna Studienwerk, said.
“We aim for more integration through education, through studying and by incorporating people into academic discourse,” Rohe added.
Rohe also pointed to the importance of education to foster integration in the European country.
“Integration depends on participation and socialization in all of [German] culture, he said.
Highlighting the positive impact of the program, Rümeysa Yıldız, 28, a PhD candidate in pedagogy at the Karlsruher Institut for Technology, said: “Successful and bright Muslims are needed in each area of society.”
“The voice of Muslims in pedagogy is almost non-existent.”
Germans have grown hostile to the Muslim presence recently, with a heated debate on the Muslim immigration into the country.
A recent poll by the Munster University found that Germans view Muslims more negatively than their European neighbors.
Germany’s daily Der Spiegel had warned in 2012 that the country is becoming intolerant towards its Muslim minority.
According to a 2010 nationwide poll by the research institute Infratest-dimap, more than one third of the respondents would prefer "a Germany without Islam." /SR
