BUDGET OF THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION APPROVED BY THE PARLIAMENT PLAN AND BUDGET COMMISSION

04 November 2020 10:14

Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk answered the questions of deputies during the hearing at the Parliament Plan and Budget Commission.
 
Regarding a question about village schools, Minister Selçuk said the amendment in the regulations allowed the Ministry to open all village schools even if there are only 3 or 5 students and finally hundreds of new village schools were opened in the country.
 
Answering a question about the beginning of face to face education in private schools, Minister Selçuk pointed out that private schools cannot start regular face to face education if their school garden is smaller than 500 square meters.
 
When a deputy asked about the allegations that the Education Information Network (EBA) had collapsed at the beginning of the new school year, Minister Selçuk said that there were two international cyber-attacks during that period and when all students entered the system simultaneously Telecom services detected this as an attack.
 
Minister Selçuk noted that many countries in the world only contacted students through mail and gave information about the curriculum while Turkey was establishing 3 television channels for distance education, reinforced EBA's infrastructure and established EBA Support Centers.
 
"But if you only concentrate on the collapse of EBA by neglecting all these efforts, you are misunderstanding the situation," said Selçuk.
 
Answering a question if the amount allocated for reinforcement of school buildings from the budget will be enough, Selçuk said: "We have completed the demolition of 50 school buildings in İzmir between August and September. There are only minor damages in 139 schools out of 2.600 school buildings in İzmir after the earthquake. None of the damaged buildings are located in Bayraklı. We will take all necessary measures to make repairs and complete wall finishes." 
 
Regarding teacher appointments, Minister Selçuk went on to say that, "We will make appointments in 2021. There is an allocation for appointments in the budget. "
 
Answering a question about allegations that the Ministry has spent approximately 1 million Turkish lira on souvenirs, Selçuk said that the Ministry is giving gifts such as chess sets, pens, book to successful students and teachers but neither the Ministry nor himself has bought gifts that costs millions of Turkish Lira.  
 
300 million dollar loan from the World Bank
Concerning allegations that 8 thousand school buildings are vulnerable to earthquakes, Selçuk stated that this figure is an exaggeration and an investigation regarding the subject is still continuing. Noting that the Ministry will make a detailed written statement about the subject, Selçuk said they are planning earthquake allocations.
 
"We received a 300 million dollar long term loan from the World Bank under the condition of using it for repair, rehabilitation and reinforcement of school buildings against earthquakes," Selçuk stated.