ABTTF President: “With the permission of Türkiye, a primary school was opened with only 3 students, whereas in our Western Thrace the situation is exactly the opposite. With the decision to close primary schools with less than 9 students, the number of primary schools decreased from 188 in 2011 to 90 today. If the state had heard our justified demands that we have been expressing for years and restored our educational autonomy, our children would have the opportunity to be taught in schools with high quality of education like in Gökçeada, the number of students in our schools would not have decreased and our schools would not have been closed.”
With the opening of the Private Gökçeada Greek Primary School in 2013 and the Private Gökçeada Greek Secondary and High School in 2015, the number of Greeks settling on the island is increasing.
Speaking to In Newspaper, Zeytinliköy Primary School Principal Stelios Berberis indicated that 6 out of 18 students graduated from the primary school and 3 out of 30 students graduated from the secondary and high school, and that a dream came true in 2012 when Türkiye allowed the opening of a private primary school on the island. Berberis noted that young couples have decided to settle in Gökçeada due to the good level of education for the children in the island and that the Greek population, which dropped to 200 in 2000, has reached 700 today.
President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) Halit Habip Oğlu made the following statement: “We are happy on behalf of the Greek population on the island that the population on the island, which decreased with the opening of primary, secondary and high school in Gökçeada in Türkiye, has increased today, because the primary school has opened with only 3 students with the permission of Türkiye. The point reached today is very pleasing. In our Western Thrace, the situation is exactly the opposite. As a result of the decision to close primary schools with less than 9 students, the number of Turkish primary schools decreased from 188 in 2011 to 90 today. The reason for the low number of students in our primary schools is not the decrease in the population in these schools, but the decrease in the quality of education in our schools due to the state control of our autonomous schools. We have no kindergartens, and the issues persist in our secondary and high schools. Our meetings with the state authorities and the letters we send do not yield any results and our demands are not met. If the state had heard our justified demands that we have been expressing for years and restored our educational autonomy, our children would have the opportunity to be taught in schools with high quality of education like in Gökçeada, the number of students in our schools would not decrease and our schools would not be closed’’.
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
