Schools will reopen when it’s completely safe for students: Minister

ANKARA

Schools will reopen when its completely safe for around 18 million students, and when to begin physical education classes will be determined in line with the recommendations of the Health Ministry’s Coronavirus Science Board, Education Minister Ziya Selçuk has said.

“There is just one answer to the question of when the schools will be reopened: They will be reopened at the most convenient time and in the safest way for our children, teachers and families. Scientific data will tell us of this date of the reopening and its implementation,” Selçuk said on Twitter on May 12.

Turkey shut down all primary, secondary and high schools on March 16 and launched distance learning program for 18 million students. The schools will be closed until May 31, but the government has not yet announced whether they will be reopened or the closure will be extended.

“As the education minister, my request from people is not to consider the [timing of] reopening of the schools as just a day on the calendar,” he said.

“The reopening of the schools will allow 18 million students and one million teachers to come out of their houses, go to schools and come back home to meet their families. It’s a matter of public health and acting in line with scientific considerations is a requirement,” Selçuk stressed.

Turkey launched TV-based and digitally based distance learning for around 18 million primary, secondary and high-school students on March 23, 12 days after the country detected its first COVID-19 case.

Distance learning is aired through three channels provided by the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) and Education Informatics Network (EBA). The TRT-EBA TV air school lessons for the primary, secondary and high school students through separate channels, supported by the digital EBA system.