147 of the 410 schools to be built, within the scope of Education for All in Times of Crisis I, II & III and Education Infrastructure for Resilience Projects have been completed. Our schools, which were completed, are opened with the event held in Gaziantep on September 21 and met with our children.

A school opening ceremony was held in Gaziantep within the scope of Education for All in Times of Crisis I, II, III and Strengthening Educational Infrastructure Projects carried out by the Ministry of National Education, General Directorate of Construction and Real Estate, with the financial support of the European Union through the German Development Bank and the World Bank. To the event; Head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, Ambassador Nikolaus MEYER – LANDRUT, Ministry of National Education Construction and Real Estate General Manager Umut GÜR, Gaziantep Governor Davut GÜL, KfW Southeastern Europe and Turkey Director Klaus MÜLLER, Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma ŞAHİN, MoNE Head of Construction Affairs Department of the General Directorate of Real Estate and Project Coordinator Fatih Mehmet ORUÇ, experts from the project implementation unit and many local guests attended.

 

We Build Educational Buildings Where All Our Children Can Access Their Educational Rights Without Discrimination

Umut GÜR, General Manager of Construction and Real Estate, Ministry of National Education, who gave the opening speech, said; “In our country, there are approximately 1.2 million Syrian children under Temporary Protection at school age. When we look at the education levels of our children according to age groups, it is seen that 127 thousand children in pre-school, 442 thousand in primary school, 348 thousand in secondary school and 278 thousand children in high school are in the education age. With the extraordinary efforts of our state and of course our Ministry, the schooling rate of Syrian children has been increased to 64 percent. However, the need for educational infrastructure in the field is far beyond the support provided by the European Union and international actors. Therefore, it is our hope that the investments in the education sector, which currently has a large share in the financial means of the European Union, will increasingly continue in the upcoming period.”

GÜR stated that they have completed 147 schools so far and delivered them to the provincial directorates. GÜR also shared the information that with the projects, an additional capacity of 200 thousand students was produced at different levels and types, from kindergarten to high school, from vocational high schools to science-arts and public education centers.

As Umut GÜR ended his speech, he listed the items that make up the philosophy of the projects.

  • Our schools are public schools built with European Union funding.
  • We are building an education home where all our children can access the right to education without discrimination. Our schools are not built specifically for refugees or certain groups. All our children residing in that region can enroll in our schools that accept students with the address-based system, just like other public schools.
  • The locations of the schools are determined according to many criteria such as capacity need, complementarity with different levels and suitable land.

Speaking at the event, Gaziantep Governor Davut GÜL reminded that they decided to open a school every week from the beginning of the term, and noted that a total of 41 schools were completed in 2021, while the construction of 54 schools was ongoing and a significant part of them would be completed by the end of the year. Stating that Gaziantep is a young city and that it receives both internal and external migration, Gül added that they will continue to work towards completing the school needs with the support of the Ministry of National Education.

Reminding that they met with the city authorities at the beginning of the year about their educational needs, LANDRUT said, “The refugee hosting in Gaziantep province is very intense. After all, we are here today for the opening of this school. I will say this once again and I always underline it. Turkey is showing a great effort as municipalities, the Turkish people and the government, about hosts, communities and refugees. As of now, 700 thousand Syrian students are integrated into the Turkish education system. We can only help within the framework of the European Union support programs, but this success is yours. We can only support you in your success.”

After the speeches, the event came to an end after the ribbons of the schools were cut, the opening bell rang and the participants toured the school.

About Our Projects:

With the financial support of the European Union and the Implementation of Ministry of National Education, General Directorate of Construction and Real Estate through the KfW and the World Bank, 410 education facilities are being built in 19 provinces with the Projects of Education Infrastructure for Resilience and Education for All in Times of Crisis I, II & III. The aim of the projects is to meet the increasing educational capacity need due to migration after the Syrian crisis by building new schools. An additional capacity of 200 thousand students in total is created with the projects in which 170 kindergartens, 60 prefabricated and 179 reinforced concrete schools and 1 public education center are built. All children benefit from the schools built without discrimination.

For detailed information: 0850 811 83 03