17 million students receive grades, enter two week break

ISTANBUL

Around 17 million students across Turkey received their grade reports and entered a two week break for the first term of the academic year. DHA Photo

Around 17 million students across Turkey received their grade reports and entered a two week break for the first term of the academic year on Jan. 24.

The academic year started on Sept. 16, 2013 and finished on Jan. 24 with around 17 million primary and high school students receiving their grades. Schools will be closed until Feb. 10 when the second term of the year will start. The second academic year will end on June 13 this year.

There are more than 15.9 million students attending school, while some 1.4 million more are registered at distance-education institutions in the country.

Education Minister Nabi Avcı attended the ceremony for the Şehit Lietaunant Selçuk Gürdal primary school in the Arnavutköy district of Istanbul, Doğan news agency reported.

The minister said he had many poor grades when he was a student and called on parents not to castigate their children for poor grades.

In the Private Gökçeada Greek Primary School, which was reopened last year for the first time after remaining closed for 50 years, the students received their grade reports for the first time.

The school, located at Gökçeada Island’s Zeytinli village, onlyhad four students due to the low minority population.

This year, 18,000 Syrian students who are staying in refugee camps in the Kilis province at the border with Syria also received their grade reports.

Deputy Provincial Gendarmerie commander Emre Abdullah Gök, Kilis University rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Güvenç, Police Chief Candemir Özdemir, Provincial Education Institution’s head Hasan Aslan attended at a ceremony held on Dec. 7 in Öncüpınar container city where Syrian children received their grade cards.