Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer paid a visit to the Gaziantep Governor's Office before attending the Provincial Education Assessment Meeting and stressed that the Ministry is determined to continue face-to-face education.

Noting that schools are following principles and rules suggested by the Ministry of Health and the Science Board, Özer said, "As of today, none of our schools are closed due to Covid-19 cases and close contact with infected patients."

Concerning students with chronic illnesses and those who need special education, Minister Özer stated that such students will be exempt from attendance obligation.

Özer also mentioned about the new Teaching Profession Law during his visit in Gaziantep.

"I wish that the Teaching Profession Law No. 7354 which came into force yesterday will be a blessing for all the education community. The regulation draft concerning the law is published in the official website of our Ministry for the suggestions and views of stakeholders. Final touches will be completed until March 15," said Özer.

He went on to say that, ""We are in the field. We continue to work day and night in order to detect and solve problems in the field and increase the quality of education." 

4 billion lira supplementary budget in addition to existing 2.5 billion lira education investment 

Following his visit to the Governor's Office, Mahmut Özer attended the Provincial Education Assessment Meeting.

Stating that the Ministry also allocated funds for the solution of the chronic education investment problems in Gaziantep, Minister Özer noted, "When we consider the history of education in Gaziantep, we see that there is an important capacity increase. The most important problem is lack of land for school construction.  Thanks to our Governor, deputies of the city and the mayor, we have taken important steps about allocating land."

He added that the Ministry will allocate 4 billion lira supplementary budget in addition to the existing 2.5 billion lira education investments in the city.

3 thousand new kindergartens and 40 thousand new classes

In addition to existing investment plans, the Ministry will also construct 138 new kindergarten buildings in Gaziantep.

"One of the priorities of our Ministry is to increase preschool schooling rate. Within this framework, we have decided to open 3 thousand new kindergartens and 40 thousand new classes until the end of 2022.