Mitsotakis meeting with the excellent student from Iran

With the 19-year-old student from Iran Kourosh Baygi Nourmohammadi, who excelled in this year’s nationwide exams even though he arrived in Greece only three years ago, met the Prime Minister at noon Kyriakos Mitsotakisin the Maximos Palace.

“It is a very nice story which proves that Greece is always a country open to those who want to integrate into it”noted the Prime Minister, who last week, on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Madrid, called the student to congratulate him and invite him to the Maximos Palace.

“Greeks are those who take part in modern education, those who feel Greek and want to learn the language, live here, raise a family here. And we always want to be very open in cases like yours to give all the children who came here – because we have done a great job with the children, especially the unaccompanied refugee children – to those who want to stay in Greece to give them the opportunities to be able to learn the language, to study here, to live here”Kyriakos Mitsotakis added.

The Prime Minister asked to hear from the young student about his experience in our country, how easily he adapted to the school environment and the reasons why he chose to take the nationwide exams and remain in Greece.

The 19-year-old thanked his teachers and the Ministries of Education and Immigration for the support they offered him. “Without all these people what I did would not have been possible,” said Kourosh Baygi Nourmohammadi.

The excellent student told Kyriakos Mitsotakis how he arrived in Lesvos with his family in 2019 and how he joined the school system, with the support of the organization SOS Children’s Villages and the administration of the KYT in Montenegro, as a result of which he excelled in the pan-Hellenic exams despite the fact that he initially knew no Greek at all.

He also mentioned the school he graduated from in Greece. “I went to the Standard GEL of Mytilene. It’s a very good school, we don’t talk about it, the teachers are incredible, I have no words”he said.

The 19-year-old noted that his intention is to study Electrical engineer in a Greek university and remain in Greece.

Closing the debate, Kyriakos Mitsotakis praised the example of the 19-year-old student and emphasized that his case highlights the other side of the refugee-immigrant issue:

“Each country has an obligation to guard its borders, on the other hand we are an open country that offers rights and opportunities to those who want to stay, live and integrate in their own way into Greek society. And I am truly glad that you symbolize this, and may your example be an example to other young children.”the Prime Minister pointed out.

THE Liana Kokkinou, philologist and coordinator of the SOS Children’s Villages refugee program in Lesbos spoke of Kourosh’s success, attributing it to his “extraordinary will”, strength and appetite for learning. “It was unreal and it’s really something for which he deserves not a thumbs up, a thousand thumbs up, for his effort, for his parents, for his family,” said Ms. Kokkinou.

Also discussed were methods to improve the education provided to children like young Kourosh so that they would have similar results.

The meeting was attended by the General Secretary of Reception of Asylum Applicants Manos Logothetis, the Commander of the KYT in Mavrovouni Dimitris Kantemnidis, the General Director of SOS Children’s Villages Giorgos Protopapas and the Head of the Refugee Sector of the organization, Patricia Senvaitz.

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