Students back to school as new academic year begins

ANKARA

Around 20 million students and 1.2 million teachers across Türkiye returned to their classrooms after a three-month summer break, eager to start the new academic year with fresh aspirations and renewed energy.

This year, education will take place in roughly 750,000 classrooms across 74,000 schools nationwide.

“We are starting the 2024-2025 academic year with the ‘Century of Türkiye Education Model,’ which we think will mark a significant milestone in the history of Turkish education,” Education Minister Yusuf Tekin said in a statement.

“We have revised our educational programs to better meet the needs of the age and have made them 35 percent more simplified. I am confident that the transformation brought about by this skill-based approach will address a number of issues in our educational system.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also shared his sentiments in a social media post: “I wish that our students, the future's guarantors, will succeed in their studies and that our esteemed teachers will fulfill their important roles successfully.”

The new education season commenced with an opening lesson with the theme of "Spirit of Independence and Love of the Homeland from Çanakkale to Gaza."

As part of the "Century of Türkiye Education Model," the new curriculum will be implemented for kindergarten, first grade, fifth grade and ninth grade students for the first time this year.

These students will use skills-based textbooks developed by the ministry. These newly introduced textbooks feature QR codes which include exercises, animations, simulations, digital history, augmented reality and AI-powered applications.

This year's elementary and secondary school students will also plant trees in approved locations and will be responsible for their care and preservation throughout their education periods. As part of the attempts to make school gardens appear more ecologically friendly, schools will offer instruction on water conservation, waste management and environmental awareness.

Authorities will implement a series of new practices that will strengthen vocational and technical education and enable the supply of qualified personnel to the manufacturing sector throughout the education period.

To identify gifted students and introduce them to sports at a young age, the nation’s first "sports middle schools" are already in place, complementing a network of nine sports high schools across nine of the country's 81 provinces.

While parents will receive regular updates on school activities through digital bulletins and other applications, they will not be allowed to visit schools without prior appointments.

The schools will also stick to the policy of not allowing children to bring mobile phones into their classrooms.

The first term of this academic year will conclude on Jan. 17, 2025, with the next term beginning on Feb. 3. The 2024-2025 academic year will end on June 20.