Hospital classrooms to open in all provinces

ANKARA 

Hospital classrooms will be established in 81 provinces for students who are being treated in hospitals due to health problems, Education Minister Mahmut Özer has announced.

The project aims to ensure that children with special educational needs exist in all areas of social life, benefit from equal educational opportunities and integrate with social life.

Accordingly, classes will be opened within the hospitals “at every desired point in all cities” in order for the children of compulsory education age who are hospitalized in health institutions to continue their education, Özer stated, reiterating that the education of the children treated at home continues in their own houses.

A total of 1,500 students continue their education in 51 hospital classes in 22 provinces, he said. “Two classroom teachers were assigned in each of these classes,” Özer stated, noting that teachers can be assigned from other fields in line with the need.

Home education services are provided to students who are documented that they cannot benefit from formal education institutions for at least twelve weeks due to health problems or that they will pose a risk to their health if they do so, the minister elaborated.

More than 11,000 students benefit from home education services as of today, while around 12,000 teachers provide education at hospitals or at students’ homes, he informed.

Meanwhile, Özer said teachers who provide education services at home or in hospitals were awarded with certificates of achievement “for making great sacrifices so that the students in the treatment process do not break away from life and continue their education without interruption.”

“We wanted to reward these teachers, who work day and night to raise the architects of our future, who make sacrifices and become a light for our students with their love and compassion,” he added.