Turkish Education Minister attends Private Armenian Schools End-of-Year Activities Program event

PanARMENIAN.Net - Minority schools in Turkey, which are protected by the Lausanne Treaty signed in 1923, have made significant contributions to Turkey by fulfilling their education and training duties, Education Minister Nimet Cubukcu said.

The event, titled “Private Armenian Schools End-of-Year Activities Program,” took place at the Kazaz Amira Salon in Istanbul’s Kumkapi district, and the ceremony started with the singing of the Turkish National Anthem. The Education Minister made a speech at the opening ceremony and said a total of 2,633 Armenian students were attending 22 Armenian minority schools made up of one nursery school, 16 elementary schools and five high schools.

“Minority schools have guarantees under the clauses of the Lausanne Treaty. These schools have been fulfilling their duties without a flaw in the field of education and training, thus making significant contributions to Turkey,” Cubukcu said.

“We know there are some problems regarding these schools, and the Education Ministry has made significant arrangements recently in collaboration with school administrations. This has been done in every school in Turkey, including the schools that belong to your community,” she said. “This was to achieve a better performance in educational activities.”

She said the Ministry has been able to provide free Turkish language and Turkish culture books to every student in minority schools and the work that has been carried out on Armenian language textbooks has reached its final stage. “When this work is completed, free books will be provided to Armenian students, and these books will be printed by the Education Ministry.”

She also said the weekly programs of Armenian schools have been renewed as a result of coordinated work with school administrations. In order to overcome the problem of a shortage of teachers in Armenian schools, Cubukcu said candidate teachers were given the opportunity to conduct 30 hours of classes starting from the day they take their post. The Education Ministry, she said, would continue taking the necessary measures so that quality education for minority schools is maintained.

Meanwhile, a parent named Arzu Uzumcu protested the latest entry tests and said her children were victims. She wanted to personally deliver a note to the minister. She was escorted out of the hall by security officers. Some other parents joined Uzumcu outside the hall and told media representatives about the confusion that happened during the language test. Parents said students were given two answer sheets during the test and told that they could chose to mark any language. Many parents complained that this method created confusion and increased the number of mistakes in the test, Anatolia News Agency reported.