Classmate ‘Tombi the cat’ returns to school

Banu Şen - İZMİR

“Tombi,” an orange tabby cat who had been removed from a classroom at a primary school in the western province of İzmir, has returned after the instruction of an education ministry official on Feb. 21.

Tombi had been removed from the school in İzmir’s Bayraklı district after a parent complaint. Students were unhappy following the incident and their parents requested to bring Tombi back to the classroom, as numbers of Turkish social media users criticized the decision.

Ömer Yahşi, an official from the provincial directorate of the National Education Ministry gave instructions to allow the cat to be returned to the class.

After the short-term separation, Tombi was back in class early on Feb. 22.

Ivaşçu said she was pleased to have Tombi return to her class.

“Tombi really missed the class. The cat is sleeping in its same place again. The students are very happy,” she said.

The cat, who had initially been kept in the yard, had been adopted by third-graders and their teacher, Özlem Pınar Ivaşcu.

However, before long, Tombi was welcomed into the class of 33 students.

Ivaşcu and her students decided to have the cat vaccinated and get him an ID card.

The class seemed to be happy with the situation and the teacher reported that the students were more enthusiastic to come to school than ever before.

However, one parent had disagreed, filing several complaints against Ivaşcu over Tombi’s presence.