Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer noted that the Ministry has initiated a new project under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's spouse Emine Erdoğan on October 26 in order to increase equal opportunity in education, decrease opportunity differences among schools and establish libraries in all state schools.
Since the beginning of the "No More Schools without Libraries Project", the Ministry has established 16,361 libraries and as of the end of 2021, there are no more schools without libraries in the entire country.
"We did not only establish libraries, we also increased the number of books in school libraries. There were a total of 28 million when we initiated the project and today the number of books in school libraries is 60 million. Our goal is to increase this figure to 100 million until the end of 2022," said Minister Özer.
He stressed that the Ministry wishes to raise talented young generations who are not only academically successful but also have cultural, artistic and social skills and who will build the future of our country.
Minister Özer thanked TED for donating 150 thousand books for school libraries and noted that these books will be sent to 1,500 schools.
"If it wasn't for education opportunities provided at schools, we would not be successful"
Stating that the Ministry of National Education achieved an important success in the last 20 years and reached the schooling rate average of OECD countries, Özer went on to say that:
"Our priority is to constantly improve the quality of education and to provide equal opportunity in education to all children. Let's remember the past. If it wasn't for education opportunities provided at schools, we would not be successful. Most of us studied in village schools and idealist teachers have touched our lives."
He added that every book sent to village schools will change the life of a student just like a butterfly effect.
"To make a contribution to school libraries is an honor for TED family"
Meanwhile, TED Chairman Selçuk Pehlivanoğlu said, "Civil society must be a role model. It must volunteer to share its resources with the entire society without making any discrimination."
Noting that he asked Ministry Özer to make a contribution to the Ministry's "No More Schools Without Libraries" project, Pehlivanoğlu thanked Özer for providing TED the opportunity to serve the students of the country.
"Social justice can be maintained by providing equal opportunity to disadvantaged groups. Education defines whether the young generation would be an opportunity or a threat. We must design an education system that reminds us of humanistic values in the digitized world. It is an honor for the TED to make a contribution to the libraries of disadvantaged schools," said Pehlivanoğlu.