Dear students, supporters, and partners of Kiron,
2019 has been a year of tremendous progress at Kiron. We want to take this moment to share some of our exciting changes and to thank you for your help. Despite all of the big changes, our mission has remained the same: to provide refugees and underserved communities with high-quality and relevant learning opportunities, no matter where they are.
Based on feedback from our students, our service has evolved from mainly guiding our students to transfer to universities to offering pathways to impart professional and 21st-Century skills and to enable personal growth. We launched over ten Skill Booster Programs on Kiron Campus, consisting of condensed digital courses focused on specific industry skills that allow for flexibility on the learners’ side without compromising on quality. We also increased our language learning opportunities as language is often a barrier for success in many of our courses.
We have intensified our efforts to attract more online learners to join our platform by making the registration process much easier and have tripled our monthly registrations as a result. We have adapted the Kiron Campus to be an even more inclusive learning platform that our students love. Moreover, we launched the Kiron App on Android OS that supports older mobile devices and students with low-bandwidth internet connection.
To do all of this, we restructured our Product and Education staff into cross-functional, agile, EdTech teams with a focus on improving and expanding our Campus based on the needs of our students. We moved into a new office space in Lichtenberg, a more agile-friendly workspace that invites more collaboration.
In 2020 we will continue to focus on offering valuable learning content that prepares students with 21st-century and employability skills. In collaboration with our partners, our goal is to empower more female learners by making the Kiron Campus even more inclusive and fostering a supportive community of women. We will also increase our presence in Jordan and Lebanon by strengthening our blended learning programs to provide crucial support for underserved communities in the region. Moreover, we will make many of our online learning opportunities available for offline use so that more underserved communities can access our offers, even without the internet.
We are grateful for all of our wonderful students, valued partners and supporters. Thank you for your ongoing support. Without your dedication and collaboration, all of our work and accomplishments simply would not have been possible. We are excited about what lies ahead and look forward to continuing to work with you to positively impact the lives of our students, worldwide.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a joyous 2020,
Dr. Tobias Ernst, CEO
