Turkish ministers opposed re-opening schools, columnist says

Turkey’s government rejected a proposal by Education Minister Ziya Selçuk to restart full-time education for children after some ministers opposed it in a cabinet meeting this week, columnist Nagehan Alçı wrote on the Haber Türk news website on Tuesday.

Primary school classrooms re-opened to students on Tuesday for two days a week as part of an easing of COVID-19 curbs following a drop in daily infections.

Alçı criticised the ministers for opposing a full re-opening of schools saying children’s futures were under threat. Opening schools for just two days a week did not mean a “return to education”, she said.

“We are all responsible for the destruction of a generation between six and 18-years of age, but mostly the ministers who opposed a full-return to education,” Alçı said.

Secondary and high school students will return to class on June 7, again for two days a week.