Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer participated in the Promotion Program of the English Digital Education Platform "Diyalekt" at the Conference Hall of the Board of Education and Discipline. 

 

Speaking at the introductory program, Minister Özer stated that digitalization in education is one of the most important instruments used in education systems. Stating that our world is going through a period when natural disasters and epidemics become very common, Özer underlined that the normalization of the education system as a whole and continuing education in processes such as disasters and epidemics are of critical importance. Stating that they have seen the results of their rapid action to normalize education in the region, Özer said that when education is not normalized in extraordinary regions, it is possible to normalize the region. Emphasizing that the education system in Türkiye has transformed into a gigantic system with the investments made in the last two decades under the leadership of President Erdoğan, Özer said that they have an education system consisting of 19 million students and 1.2 million teachers, and this number is much higher than the population of nearly 150 countries. Stating that all obstacles in front of girls' access to school, especially from preschool to higher education, have been removed in Türkiye, Özer reminded that educational work has become much more democratic and that they have activated the EBA system during the Covid-19 epidemic. Stating that the EBA system, which started during the reign of Nimet Çubukçu, one of the previous Ministers and became especially strengthened with the great support of former Minister Nabi Avcı, contributed to the sustainability of education, Minister Özer said that today, they gave importance to reach digital platforms in all areas where there is a deficiency in order to make the education system much stronger.

  

Minister Özer said that while the education per teacher was 44 hours in 2021, it reached 250 hours in 2022. Minister Özer, who said that they should support teachers for quality education and that they should always be by their side in their professional development, said that they did very well by making the Teacher Information Network (ÖBA). Stating that ÖBA is one of the most important digital platforms they have brought to the Ministry of National Education, Özer said that they later created the Student and Teacher Support System (ÖDS), a digital platform that both students and teachers will use. Özer stated that they created a mechanism for students to overcome their individual deficiencies.

 

Reminding that as the Ministry, they have resolved the problem of auxiliary resources in the country, Minister Özer announced that they have delivered 160 million auxiliary resources to students and that they have activated 30 million additional supplementary resources as LGS and YKS support mechanism last week. Stating that each student's shortcomings are different, Özer said that they have activated the ÖDS system to support them and that this system is widely used. Özer thanked everyone who contributed to the establishment of the ÖDS system.

 

Emphasizing that they announced a mobilization in three languages, Turkish, English and Mathematics, Özer stated that it is compulsory to know Turkish in order to learn another language. Stating that they look at mathematics as a language, not as a lesson, Minister Özer stated that mathematics is a tool for students to establish a rational relationship with life and that it is a language that should be known by all segments of the society.

 

Stating that they announced a Mathematics Mobilization and started digital platform studies in order to teach mathematics in a much more comfortable way and to remove mathematics from being an instrument that only certain students can learn, Özer stated that they shared all the documents related to this study with the public.

 

Saying that they have put forward the best English platform in Türkiye, where not only the education age population, but all citizens registered with e-Government can learn English very comfortably, Özer said that the tendency towards foreign languages in Türkiye will change.

 

Expressing that the teachers are the most devoted people in this country, Özer thanked them for the sacrifice they made by disregarding their own lives in the earthquake disaster on February 6, as in the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Emphasizing that the teachers working in the earthquake area wanted to stay in the region, Özer expressed his sincere gratitude to the devoted teachers who care about their citizens.

 

Stating that Dialect will continue to serve as a platform to solve problems related to foreign languages in the long term, Minister Özer announced that the digital platform for Turkish will be opened as of next week and that they will have finalized the process related to Turkish, Mathematics and English.

 

Noting that approximately 1.4 million students are receiving education in Imam Hatip High Schools, Minister Özer stated that they experience difficulties in listening, understanding, writing and speaking while learning Arabic. Özer announced that they will launch the Arabic digital platform as of today to address these problems.

 

Referring to the courses offered by the Public Education Centers, which are critical in strengthening their life skills, strengthening their employability, and their ability to stand on their feet, which 3-4 million citizens benefited annually in 2021, Özer said that these courses increased the number of monthly user service to 1 million citizens and reached the target of 2022. Pointing out that their concern is to serve citizens, students and teachers without expecting anything in return, Özer stated that they aim to make the education system entrusted by President Erdoğan much stronger and pass it onto the next generations. Stating that they have reached 13 and a half million citizens in 2022 and that the family school project has a very important place, Özer said that their current aim is to both renew the contents of public education courses and to offer a new digital platform called HEMBA, which is the abbreviation of Public Education Centers Information Network. Expressing that they will open HEMBA in a week or two, Özer stated that any citizen of the Republic of Türkiye living in Türkiye or abroad can easily acquire the skills they want through this platform through distance education.

 

Explaining that foreign language support will be provided especially to citizens living abroad, Minister Özer stated that free support will be provided for foreign language teaching, which makes life easier and is the key to integrate with life.

 

Expressing that they have put many digital platforms into service in the last 2 years in order to make the education system more efficient and increase its quality, and they will continue to do so, Özer wished that the "Dialect/Dialekt" platform would be a radical solution to the problem of learning a foreign language in Türkiye. Expressing that they also cooperated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which is one of the most important stakeholders, and the TRT General Directorate in the creation of these contents, Özer thanked all his colleagues and employees of the institution for their support and efforts.

 

Answering the questions of the press members about when the schools in the earthquake zone will start the 2023-2024 academic year, Minister Özer said that from the first day, the Ministry of National Education, manages the processes with the awareness that 'normalizing education will make a very important contribution to normalizing life' and 'education everywhere and under all conditions' principle. Özer stated that they followed the process closely in tents, containers and in all places where students and teachers meet, and that they quickly put into effect the normalization processes in all provinces in the region and provided that training was conducted in solid buildings and in buildings with a soundness certificate given by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Özer stressed that as of today, there is no district left in the ten quake-provinces in the earthquake zone where education is not provided.

 

Thanking all the Ministry employees who contributed to this process, Minister Özer stated that they give priority to the children's recovery from the trauma. Pointing out that children are the ones most affected by these extraordinary conditions, Minister Özer said that the students who were affected by the earthquake are excluded from the attendance requirement. He added that the subjects of the second semester were also excluded so that the children who will take LGS and YKS exams do not experience stress. Stating that the Ministry is mobilizing in the disaster area with all its means, Özer said that the teaching materials and supplementary resources were reprinted and stationery materials were procured for the students.

 

He stated that they will organize summer schools for students in ten cities and they will continue to support students related to science, arts, mathematics and foreign language. Announcing that they have completed the preparations for the learning losses of the students in these provinces, Özer said that between August 1 and September 1, students will be able to receive services related to education and learning losses on a voluntary basis. He said that when the next academic year starts, normal education will continue and the second phase of the make-up program will be activated in the evenings or on the weekends, and they will apply a make-up program for 1 more month in total. Özer stated that they are currently implementing the same program in support training courses for students who had a delay.

 

Stating that there is no such thing as bringing the opening date of the schools forward in the earthquake zone, Özer said that the academic calendar will be completed on time. Expressing that there will be no problems when the make-up programs for learning losses are completed successfully in a two-month period, Özer said that the Ministry will use every opportunity to overcome the deficiencies of the children. Underlining that their first priority is for children to survive with their psychological strength, Minister Özer emphasized that learning losses will be compensated comfortably.