22 October 2020 14:52

Village school teachers received training on various subjects such as being teachers in a village within the framework of the Project initiated a year ago with the goal of reaching all village school teachers in Turkey and helping them in their professional development. A total of approximately 9 thousand teachers including currently employed 7.000 village teachers and 2.000 villagers who will be appointed to village schools attended trainings. Within the context of the program, "Reference Guide for Village School Teachers" and "Activity Book for Multi-grade Classrooms" were delivered to village schools and teachers employed in these schools with the support of the Ministry of National Education in an effort to offer guidance to village school teachers. These books aim at becoming a guide for teachers about life in village and quality of education in the early years of their profession and also provide various different kinds of activities for curriculum of multi-grade classes. 
 
Emirler Village School has a special place for the Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk. He was making a speech about the project at the school where he once was a student. Making a brief preference to those years, Minister Selçuk said, "I am here not only as a Minister but also as a student who once studied in one of these thousands of village schools and who knows what village school students think. Today has a great meaning for me. Multi-grade classrooms, students studying in these classrooms and teachers have a special place for us."
 
Noting that the Ministry considers village schools as the foundation of education and recently adapted an important regulation about village schools, Minister Selçuk reminded that village schools started face to face education for all grades in the second phase of face to face education and upon the request of parents, all village schools are opened regardless of number of students studying in these schools. Minister Selçuk underlined that the Ministry had delivered summer study sets along with 17 different student's activity books on 5 different subjects to all village schools adding that the Ministry will continue to offer new sources for village school students in the new term.
 
Minister Selçuk pointed out that they had vowed to reach all village school teachers when they started this project in cooperation with the Sabancı Foundation in December, 2019 and said that despite the pandemic, they had completed the second phase of the project through distance education and achieved their goal to reach approximately 9 thousand village school teachers.
 
"Sabancı Foundation worked very hard. I would like to thank Ms. Güler Sabancı and the Sabancı Foundation who took the responsibility in line with "Strong teacher, strong future" mentality. I believe that we will take firm steps within this framework. We are opening a page for village schools which are the apple of our eye."
 
Noting that the Ministrt had managed to reach teachers, students and parents at every level of education, Chairwoman of the Sabancı Foundation Güler Sabancı said during her speech at the meeting that, "The Sabancı Foundation has been working in order to share our earnings with the people of this land. "Education" is among the prior topics of our activities that we carry out for social development. Since the establishment of our foundation, we have built more than 120 schools, teacher guest houses, libraries and dormitories. We gave 48 thousand scholarships."
 
Güler Sabancı stated that the Foundation is also working in an effort to maintain quality education opportunities for women, young and disabled people with their projects adding that, "The Sabancı Foundation says 'Education Right Cannot be Discussed' with the dream of offering equal opportunities in education. We are working in an effort to reach teachers, students and parents at every level of education with our projects. For the last 4 years, we are working with Village School Exchange Network in order to increase the quality of education in rural areas. Just like Mr. Minister said village schools are the apple of the eye of education. Teachers who are appointed to village schools in the early years of their profession are working in a different place that they never saw before. It is very important to give a warm welcome and support to their efforts. We know that if you achieve to touch teachers, teachers can make a difference for the whole village. I would like to thank teachers who are the guarantees of social development."