As part of the "Türkiye-TRNC are Hand in Hand, Moving Forward on Education" project, the ceremony for the trucks carrying educational materials was held at the Course Materials Production Center in Ankara, Elmadağ. Vice President Fuat Oktay, Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer and TRNC Education Minister Nazım Çavuşoğlu attended the program which is organized as part of cooperation negotiations between Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on education.

 

Vice President Fuat Oktay stated that all the participants are veterans who meet the needs of all schools and educational institutions in Türkiye. Oktay emphasized that all kinds of materials needed by the students in the TRNC will be sending.

 

Stating that they stand by the TRNC in every field such as education, health, transportation, energy and agriculture under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Oktay noted that the studies are carried out regarding improving the education infrastructure, strengthening the teaching staff and developing student skills. Oktay emphasized that they are aware of the importance of education for development efforts of the TRNC.

 

Stating that the youth and the children are the future of the TRNC Oktay emphasized that it is extremely important to provide Turkish Cypriots with quality education, and to develop youth in science, art, culture and sports. Underlining that their aim is to raise virtuous young people who are willing to read and research, Oktay said that to support the youth nationally and spiritually will also provide a brighter future for the TRNC. Oktay stated there are deficiencies regarding the professional development of teachers in current education system of the TRNC.

 

Oktay stated that Türkiye will support Turkish Cypriots to access quality education at all levels. Stating that close coordination continues between the Ministries of National Education of the two countries in many fields Oktay stated that the Board of Education and Discipline working hard to produce educational contents for TRNC. Stating that the sending educational materials with 14 trucks demonstrates the cooperation between Türkiye and TRNC on education, Oktay emphasized that they will continue to stand by the TRNC regardless of the conditions. Hoping that the materials will reach the TRNC as soon as possible, Oktay congratulated those who contributed to the efforts, especially the Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer and his team.

 

Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer pointed out that the capacity of the center has been expanded day by day and come to the point of producing educational materials. Expressing that the employees are working very hard to meet the needs of the schools, Özer noted that Course Materials Production Center is mainly a coordination center. He added that production is mainly carried out in many vocational training schools in Türkiye.

 

In this context, Özer noted that there is a serious increase in capacity of vocational education. Noting that the production turnover was 2.3 billion liras in 2022 Özer said that they aim to reach a production capacity of 5 billion liras for 2023.

 

Stating that they will send off all the materials with 14 trucks as they promised, Özer thanked Vice President Fuat Oktay and his colleagues for their contributions.

 

Expressing his pride for being a part of the project, the Minister of Education of TRNC Nazım Çavuşoğlu, stated that developing TRNC is their duty and Türkiye put all its means to the support TRNC. Çavuşoğlu thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vice President Fuat Oktay and Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer and personnel who contributed to the project.

 

Making statements after the examinations made in the production center workshops, Vice President Oktay reminded that they saw how the course materials were made. He shared that in addition to this center with its 250 employees, there are 238 other centers equipped with more advanced technologies under the Ministry of National Education.

 

Expressing that he was very impressed with the physics textbook prepared for the visually disabled students in secondary school, Oktay emphasized that this effort was an indication of Türkiye's sensitivity towards education under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Thanking the personnel on behalf of President Erdoğan and the nation, Oktay expressed that the future of Türkiye is on the shoulders of today's children, and the nation will march on the "Century of Türkiye" thanks to them.

 

Fuat Oktay shared the good news that the facility will be modernized with more advanced technologies. Stressing that the vocational high schools are in a very serious transformation as they make production in their own laboratories Oktay thanked Minister Özer for his efforts.

 

Minister Özer presented Vice President Oktay with a gift prepared by Bursa Maturation Institute with the hand-carved technique adapted from the dome pattern of the Green Mosque. Ambassador of Türkiye to TRNC Metin Feyzioğlu and the Ambassador of TRNC to Türkiye İsmet Korukoğlu were also present at the ceremony.