Turkey plans to reopen schools on Feb 15

ANKARA

Turkey is planning to reopen schools starting from Feb. 15, the country’s education minister has said, adding that different scenarios are being considered.

Schools were closed on March 16, 2020 days after the country confirmed its first coronavirus case.

After partially reopening schools in late September last year, Turkey resumed its distance learning education system as of Nov. 20, 2020 until Jan. 4, 2021.

“We have made a policy decision on reopening schools as of Feb. 15,” Ziya Selçuk said in an interview with private broadcaster CNN Türk on Jan. 18.

The decision on possible scenarios of school reopening will be decided and shared with the public 10 days before the scheduled reopening date, Selçuk noted.

The decision will be taken in line with instructions from the Health Ministry’s Coronavirus Science Board, the minister said, adding that it is not possible yet to reopen all classes at once not only in Turkey but also in many countries around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are experienced in resuming classes. Students took face-to-face classes in different days of the week or in-class education started gradually for different grades. We have different scenarios that we could or could not implement,” Selçuk said.

He also suggested it could be up to parents to send their children to schools once they reopen as it was case during partial reopening.

“There are different cases. Some households may have ill people, some members of the family may have chronic illnesses, thus a one-size-fits-all approach may be the appropriate one,” Selçuk said.

He reiterated that schools will distribute digital report cards and they will be available mostly online.

Remote learning has been continuing through national broadcaster TRT’s Education Information Network (EBA) channels and live courses, while all teachers can carry out live lessons through the EBA.

Selçuk recalled that teachers will be vaccinated in the second phase of the country’s inoculation drive.