A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Hatay with the participation of Deputy Minister Ömer Faruk Yelkenci for 3 kindergartens to be built within the scope of the "Education for All in Times of Crisis-100" project.
Deputy Minister of National Education Yelkenci, at the mass groundbreaking ceremony held in Hassa district for the kindergartens to be built within the scope of the "Education for All in Times of Crisis-3" project, stated that education investments continue uninterruptedly and that they are working to overcome the difficulties in the earthquake zone.
Yelkenci pointed out that Hatay was the city most affected by the earthquakes on February 6, 2023, centered in Kahramanmaraş, and said:
“As of February 6, we repaired 420 classrooms in 5 slightly damaged schools in Hatay in a short time and put them into service in time for the academic year. "Later, we planned 100 thousand 2 classrooms instead of 905 thousand 3 classrooms, which we had to demolish as a result of the analysis made because they were severely damaged in the earthquake."
Stating that the work will continue rapidly to strengthen and put into service 176 thousand 2 classrooms in 421 schools with moderate damage, Yelkenci said, "With these investments, our education infrastructure in Hatay will become stronger than before the earthquake, starting from the new academic year." said.
Yelkenci explained that the support of funders and philanthropists facilitates the realization of investments.
Stating that the project aims to strengthen the educational infrastructure, Yelkenci said, "We think that the kindergartens we built in our project are a very good and effective step to further increase our country's schooling rate at the kindergarten level and to ensure that all our children have equal access to educational environments with their peers." he said.
“We specifically planned 100 of our 50 kindergartens within the scope of the project in the earthquake zone.”
Özcan Duman, General Director of Construction and Real Estate of the Ministry of National Education, said that they are working non-stop to continue education in the provinces affected by the earthquakes.
Underlining that education is a fundamental human right, Duman continued his words as follows:
“With this awareness, we build our schools to be at the service of all our children, without discrimination. In addition to existing public investments, we have specifically planned 3 of the 100 kindergartens we will build within the scope of the 'Education for All in Times of Crisis-50' project in the earthquake zone. "The foundation we have laid here will be completed and put into service as soon as possible, together with the other kindergartens we run in the region that are nearing completion."
Jurgis Vilcinskas, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, also stated that they will continue to support the educational initiatives that have been carried out and are planned to be carried out.
Klaus Müller, Director of the German Development Bank for Southeastern Europe and Turkey, stated that it is pleasing that kindergartens are built in a way that allows children to receive education in a safe and protected environment.