Stating that education started after the second break in schools in the earthquake zone, as in all provinces, Özer said that they divided the provinces in the earthquake area into three categories according to their impact status in order to normalize education. He noted that they started education in all centers and districts in Kilis, Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa on March 1, in Gaziantep, Osmaniye and Adana on March 13. Stating that they have started education in Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman Malatya and Hatay that were hit the most by the earthquake as of March 27, Özer said that they start education in 8 districts in Malatya, 2 in Kahramanmaraş, 7 in Hatay and 5 in Adıyaman. Reminding that the decision in which districts to start education is left to the governorships, taking into account the criteria such as the soundness of the schools and the maturation of the surrounding conditions, and that the governorships use this initiative in consultation with the Ministry, Minister Özer underlined that education started in Malatya as of April 3 and in Kahramanmaraş as of April 10. Expressing that in addition to the districts opened in Hatay, education started in Iskenderun on April 3 and in Belen, Hassa and Kumlu on April 10, Özer said that as a result of the negotiations with the Governorships of Hatay and Adıyaman, education has started in all districts in the earthquake zone as of today.

 

Emphasizing that they normalized education and training by opening schools in the earthquake zone, Özer said that 35 thousand 694 students have transferred back to their hometowns. Özer noted that 9 thousand 522 students returned back to Kahramanmaraş, 6 thousand 175 to Hatay, 6 thousand 649 to Gaziantep and 3 thousand 906 to Malatya and 3 thousand 282 students transferred back to Adıyaman in line with their demands.

 

Reminding that the 2022-2023 academic year will end as of June 16, Minister Özer announced that they will organize a make-up program between August 1 and September 1 to compensate for the learning losses of students in ten quake-hit provinces. Stating that they have completed all the preparations Özer said that necessary materials are sent to the printing process. Noting that they will continue this make-up program for a month after the 2023-2024 academic year starts. Özer said that a two-month recovery program has been completed in order to compensate for the learning losses of students.

 

Stating that the make-up program is optional, Özer also reminded that the compulsory attendance for earthquake-affected students was removed. The Minister said that as the Ministry, they provided all kinds of support to students to strengthen their psychosocial resilience. Noting that they aimed to normalize education and provide psychoeducation beyond curriculum-based education in this process Özer said that they wanted children to get rid of that trauma quickly. Mentioning the study on the promotion to a higher class Özer said that they took into account the delays in the second semester so that students in our ten provinces will not suffer. Özer pointed out that if the second semester grades are lower than the first semester grades, they will consider the first semester grade which is the higher one. Expressing that if the second semester grade is higher than the first semester grade, the average will be taken as the basis, Özer said that they will announce this approach, which will be in favor of the student, with the public soon.

 

Stating that there are approximately 256 thousand students studying in the 8th grade in ten quake-hit provinces. Özer noted that these students are provided with the opportunity to take the exam comfortably in the province they live in or in another province they prefer. Özer stated that 67 thousand 25 students in the earthquake region preferred to take the exam in different provinces, and reminded that the second term subjects were excluded from LGS and YKS. 

 

Özer said that they have opened support and training courses for YKS and LGS at 3 thousand 405 points in ten provinces and set up NATO tents in Hatay with the Ministry of National Defense. Özer also mentioned the LGS- YKS preparation courses they have established together with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources for students on ship.

 

Stating that there are approximately 150 thousand 12th grade students in the disaster area, Minister Özer noted that they will be able to take the exam in any city they want thanks to the decision taken by ÖSYM (Student Selection and Placement Center). Providing information regarding the LGS and YKS support points, Özer said that approximately 150 thousand students attended the courses. Noting that they reprinted all course materials and sent approximately 30 million supplementary resources to students in the region last week, Özer underlined that they made every effort to ensure that the students in the region did not experience any disadvantages.

 

Stating that works are carried out under extraordinary conditions in the earthquake zone, Özer emphasized that considering international literature education comes forward as the first priority during extraordinary disasters. Expressing that the normalization of education leads to the normalization of life, Özer stated that they use every opportunity to enable students to meet with their teachers. Özer explained that they transport students from all points of their accommodation areas to schools for free with transported education and provide free meals.

 

Reminding that the results of the oral exams were announced for the appointment of 45 thousand teachers, Özer underlined that the appointment of 45 thousand teachers was the highest appointment in a single session in the last 20 years. Özer announced that they will make these appointments as of May 8 and assign more than 50 percent teachers to support the restoration works in these ten quake-hit provinces.

 

Expressing that the teachers will work for 3 years at their location, Özer stated that a total of 5 thousand civil servants, including office staff, lawyers, engineers, dietitians and nurses were recruited. Özer added that they give priority to the earthquake zone regarding the appointments.

 

Stating that the allegations claiming that the Ministry of National Education conducted a study on the demand for paid teachers' positions are not reflecting the truth, Özer said that there is no study related to the recruitment of paid teachers or their appointment. He underlined that they recruit teachers through KPSS and everyone will be placed according to their KPSS scores and ranks.

 

Özer evaluated the summer and winter schools and stated that they will stick to the tradition. Stating that they will continue to summer school program not only to compensate for students learning losses, but also to support them in science, art and culture-related subjects in summer, Özer said that they will also initiate make-up programs for students in ten quake-hit provinces Özer reminded that nearly one million students from all over in Türkiye attended the summer schools last year and benefit from these courses.  

 

Pointing out that flexibility is provided to teachers who want to take part in these courses, Özer added that teachers have the opportunity to contribute and to get paid not only in the provinces where they work, but also in places where they go on vacation.