Over 16,000 schools provided with libraries

ANKARA

Some 16,000 libraries have been established across the country in two months, said the education minister.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the library in a high school in the capital Ankara, named after psychiatrist Erol Göka, Education Minister Mahmut Özer said that 16,361 schools that did not have a library have been provided with libraries in the last two months.

“Within the scope of the ‘No School Without Libraries Project,’ the number of books in school libraries has been increased from 28 million to 70 million,” Özer said, noting that it is aimed to increase this number to 100 million by the end of 2022.

Özer said one of the key features of the project is to name the libraries after intellectuals and to ensure that the students come together with these names, while requesting Göka to meet with the teachers and students at least once a month.

The minister also pointed out that an academy established for administrators in Istanbul, in which all school boards in Türkiye were included in the seminars to raise cultural and historical awareness.

“We also focused on comprehensive training on personal and professional development of our teachers,” Özer added.

Reiterating that the number of training hours per teacher increased from 44 to 94 last year, Özer stated that it is targeted to increase this number to 120 hours in 2022.

“We also want to increase the 8.9 million Turkish Liras budget allocated for teacher training to 292 million liras,” the minister added.