Congratulating the new school year, Minister Tekin said that they attended programs in Hatay, İskenderun and Osmaniye provinces hit by the earthquake, on the first day of the school year.

 

Stating that there are approximately 3.5 million students in 11 provinces affected by the earthquakes on February 6, centered in Kahramanmaraş, Tekin said that there were 10 thousand 539 schools and 114 thousand 675 classrooms before the earthquake. Stating that 936 schools and 11 thousand 728 classrooms were either destroyed, heavily damaged or moderately damaged after the earthquake, Minister Tekin said that within the scope of these measures, they put into service a total of 2 thousand 573 new classrooms as steel or prefabricated structures. Minister Tekin, who informed that there were students carrying out education in the containers, said that President Erdoğan gave instructions to meet the need for schools in the region from the investment budget.

 

Stressing that they organized earthquake-focused meetings to coordinate the process, Tekin underlined that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is following the process closely.

 

Making evaluations about the completion time of the schools damaged in the earthquake, Minister Tekin stated that the need for classrooms, which was 11 thousand, decreased to around 9 thousand. Minister Tekin announced that approximately 4 thousand classrooms of these will be built as steel structures upon the instructions of President Erdoğan and that the majority of them will be ready for the beginning of the next spring academic year. In summary, he stated that they aim to meet the education needs here in terms of classrooms after 1 year.

 

Tekin emphasized that there is no student left in the earthquake zone who cannot receive education.

 

Stating that 21 thousand 500 students were studying in containers in all 11 provinces hit by the earthquakes, the Minister said that schools with solid buildings were included in the scope of double shift schools. Tekin said that their calendar regarding the construction process is to reach the number of classrooms before the earthquake in these 11 provinces in September.

 

Emphasizing that approximately 220 thousand teachers in the earthquake region were affected by the disaster, Tekin said that these teachers were contacted one by one by the provincial directors.

 

Stating that they received information about the accommodation needs of teachers upon the requests received, Minister Tekin shared the information that containers to accommodate teachers and their families were created under the coordination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

 

Minister Tekin also touched upon the changes regarding The Regulation on the Amendment of the Regulation on the Ministry of National Education Secondary Education Institutions.

 

Stating that they hold many meetings within the scope of "Teachers' Room Meetings", Minister Tekin said that teachers can sincerely share every issue they complain about in these programs.

 

Noting that the issue of "grade repetition" was also mentioned by teachers, Tekin evaluated that grade repetition is important both for the students to have a healthy education process and for the teachers to be able to perform their profession in a healthy way.

 

Making a statement regarding the regulations regarding the transition to open education, Minister Tekin said that first of all, they wanted to prevent people from turning to illegal or unlicensed courses. Secondly, Minister Tekin emphasized that the curriculum of the schools under the Ministry of National Education covers a process starting from pre-school and ending with the 12th grade. Stressing that the important thing for them is to evaluate children within the scope of formal education, Minister Tekin said that open education or open high school was designed as an opportunity for children unable to receive formal education for certain reasons. He said that they aim to raise the children entrusted to them in the best possible way.

 

Noting that they created a series of suggestions regarding private schools demolished in earthquake areas and those who work there, Minister of National Education Tekin said that they shared these suggestions with the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

 

In response to the question about teachers waiting for appointment, Minister Tekin stated that, as the Minister of National Education, he wanted new teachers to join the education community. Sharing the information that they shared the figures they needed according to the Ministry's calculations with the Minister of Treasury and Finance and the Presidency of Strategy and Budget, Tekin said that after the 2024 budget is created, a figure will be revealed to the public about how many personnel will be employed in total. Minister Tekin stated that the figure is determined, the Ministry of National Education will be authorized to employ teachers and will act in line with this authority. Underlining that it is not possible to give a certain number figure, Minister Tekin said that it will take time because they want to manage the interview process properly for employment of teachers.