I Don't Give Up on Anyone

School principal Engin Çatık is making headlines in Berlin - for the second time, he has turned around a "scandal school," an institution where bullying and escalating violence were everyday occurrences. Raised in difficult circumstances himself, he understands the lived reality of many young people from personal experience and meets them with respect and engaged authority.

In conversation with Hadnet Tesfai, he reveals what goes wrong in schools - and why this reflects the broader state of our shared life together. His work is dedicated to equal opportunity and educational justice, which he sees as essential for the future of an aging society.

Engin Çatık, born in 1986 in Berlin, grew up with his mother and three siblings in a housing block and became a school principal at age 33. He transformed both the Johanna Eck School and the Friedrich Bergius School from problem schools into model projects. In 2026, he received the German Dream Award in the Role Model category.

Hadnet Tesfai, born in 1979 in present-day Eritrea, studied political science, Arabic studies, and North American studies in Berlin. She began her career as a broadcaster in 1999 at Kiss FM, later worked at Fritz and from 2008 to 2010 at MTV Germany, appeared on camera for ProSieben, Arte, and 3sat, and in 2022 hosted the opening and awards ceremony of the 72nd Berlinale.

Further information about the panel will follow shortly.