The closing ceremony of the “Education Infrastructure for Resilience” and “Education for All in Times of Crisis I-II” projects, carried out by our General Directorate of Construction and Real Estate through the European Union Financial Support, the World Bank and KfW Development Bank, was held in Ankara. Thus, the last step towards the successful completion of the projects was taken.
The ceremony held at the Mogan VTHS, was attended by our Deputy Minister Mr. Ömer Faruk YELKENCİ, our General Manager Mr. Özcan DUMAN, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Türkiye Mr. Jurgis VILCINSKAS, World Bank Human Development Program Leader Mr. Rene Antonio Leon SOLANO, KfW Development Bank Southeastern Europe and Turkey Municipal Infrastructure. Department Head Mr. Florian SEKINGER and other relevant participants attended.
“The Educational Facilities We Build Will Touch the Lives of Millions of Children.”
At the ceremony, our General Manager, Mr. Özcan DUMAN, addressed the participants. Emphasizing the success and effects of the projects in his speech, our General Manager said:
“In our projects, we have completed 210 schools so far and created a capacity of approximately 160 thousand students. Considering that the building performance life is quite long in our projects successfully implemented in 19 provinces, it would not be wrong to say that these buildings will touch the lives of millions of children.
These projects provided an experienced team and the ability to tackle large projects with external funding. I would like to state that we maintain our willingness to use foreign financial sources for projects that will be beneficial to our country and contribute to its development goals.
As the Ministry of National Education, we routinely carry out works on the scale of our current projects in terms of public investments. However, what we find really valuable here is the good results we have achieved with the cooperation we have established with KfW and the World Bank in the management of internationally financed projects and the support of the European Union.
“I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this success, especially my colleagues and international partners, and I wish a productive event for all our participants.”
“The Schools We Built Contributed to Meeting the Education Infrastructure Needs in 19 Provinces”
In his speech here, our Deputy Minister, Mr. Ömer Faruk YELKENCİ, reminded that three projects that are a response to the migration problem in terms of educational infrastructure have been completed and said, “As you know, the phenomenon of migration has many dimensions, but from an educational perspective, the basic principles are educational infrastructure, schooling, vocational training and preparation for employment, which feed each other.” “We can talk about three main pillars.”
Noting that it is of great importance to build new schools and ensure children’s access to education in order to reduce the demand-side pressure on educational services due to migration, our Deputy Minister said: “With the successful work we have done in the last decade in the field of both educational infrastructure and access to education, Syrians Under Temporary Protection We managed to increase the schooling rate of our children from 20 percent to over 65 percent.
It directly contributed to meeting approximately 19 percent of this need with 210 schools built as part of the Education Infrastructure for Resilience and Education for All in Times of Crisis I-II projects implemented with the financial support of the European Union. At the same time, the construction of 100 pre-schools has started with the ongoing Education for All in Times of Crisis III Project.”
Emphasizing that Ministry is building hundreds of educational facilities every year with public resources, our Deputy Minister said, “The projects we carry out with the European Union and other international financial institutions make significant contributions to the improvement of the technical design and learning environments of our schools day by day. We see our educational buildings as places where young minds are shaped and new generations are prepared for life; We work to ensure that our schools are places where children, teachers and parents come with happiness and where there is a learning opportunity in every corner.”
Referring to the earthquake disaster that occurred on February 6, our Deputy Minister, Mr. Ömer Faruk YELKENCİ, said, “After this disaster, all our educational buildings, especially the schools built within the scope of the project, fulfilled their duties. Our schools turned into temporary shelter centers, aid distribution areas, soup kitchens, earthquake coordination centers, and education and training resumed under the same roof after a short time. On this occasion, it became clear how appropriate the disaster-resistant schools agenda is. “We will continue our work uninterruptedly with the understanding of ‘zero risk’ in terms of educational structures, with the resources provided by both public resources and international organizations.”
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Türkiye, Jurgis VİLCİNSKAS, emphasized that qualified learning environments make very positive contributions to the well-being of children.
Referring to the schooling of refugee children, Jurgis VILCİNSKAS said in his speech: “With 210 schools, 5,306 classrooms and a capacity of 159,180 students, our school infrastructure projects achieved proud results despite the COVID-19 pandemic and earthquake last year. These schools serve Syrian students Under Temporary Protection and host communities, providing quality education when needed.
My story begins at Yunus Emre Secondary School in Hatay – Kırıkhan. I visited the school in April and met with the principal, teachers and students. Students and teachers were very pleased with their new school. During and after the earthquake, the modern school became a beacon of hope and a safe haven. Teachers explained that the school became a shelter after the earthquake. Students do not want to leave even when the school bell rings; They play football, table tennis, basketball or exercise in the gym. This school helped them get through the trauma; It became not just a place of learning but a source of hope.
There are more than 3.1 million Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey. Half of the refugees are under the age of 18. Additionally, more than 25% of Türkiye’s population is of school age. It is very important for this young population to receive quality education and grow up as individuals who will contribute to society. EU projects continue to provide quality educational spaces to both refugees and host communities and increase school enrollment.
As the EU, we will continue to support school infrastructures. “640 million Euros are allocated for the construction of 340 schools. We will continue to work with the Ministry of National Education, the World Bank and the KfW Development Bank. Thank you for your patience and dedication, these achievements would not have been possible without you! “I would like to thank local institutions, design and inspection consultants, construction companies and all teachers.” he said.
Following the speeches of Florian SEKINGER, Head of Southeastern Europe and Turkey Municipal Infrastructure Department from KfW Development Bank, and Rene Antonio Leon SOLANO, World Bank Human Development Program Leader, our students and our teacher, who are the beneficiaries of Ostim Şehit Şükrü Öngün Secondary School, shared their opinions about our project and our schools.
Then, Ostim Şehit Şükrü Öngün School music group students sang the songs they created with their peers within the scope of the Erasmus + project.
In the second stage of the closing ceremony, panels “The Role of Improved Learning Environments for Syrians Under Temporary Protection (SuTP) and All Students” and “Disaster-Resilient Schools in Türkiye” were held.