Turkey committed to keeping schools open through this academic year: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

All the measures for the safety of 18 million students and 1.2 million teachers have been taken before the start of the academic year on Sept. 6, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, expressing his commitment to keeping them open throughout the school year.

“The pandemic is still continuing, but we no longer have the luxury to keep our students away from their schools. We are determined to keep our schools open and to give the best education to our children,” Erdoğan said at a ceremony held by the Education Ministry for the recruitment of 20,000 more teachers in Istanbul on Sept. 3.

Turkey has been running online education since late March 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“By taking all the necessary precautions, we are bringing our children back to their schools on Monday,” Erdoğan said, informing that necessary guidelines have already been outlined by the Health and Education Ministries.

“My expectation from our teachers is the full implementation of these guidelines. I am sure you will set an example for our children by getting vaccinated. Our schools are ready for the education, and I am sure it will be a successful academic year,” he stated. “I believe that we will be able to accomplish the academic year by keeping our school open full-time.”

The government in the past 19 years has overwhelmingly invested in upgrading the infrastructure by building schools and doubling the number of teachers, Erdoğan said, underlining that it was now time to focus on increasing the quality of education. “We have to improve the curriculum and education content. Our children deserve the best. For this, the most important element is teachers. It’s imperative that you continue to improve yourself by closely following the developments in your field,” he suggested.