“There is no minority school to be closed in the next academic year”

Minority Schools Councilors Union Chairman Ahmet Kara met with East Macedonia Thrace Region Education Director Konstandinos Bandikos and minority education officer Vasilis Simeonidis on Wednesday, 11 May.

In a statement made by the Union of Councillors on the subject, it was reported that the closure of minority schools, the way the weekly curriculum in minority schools was implemented on Friday and the increasing electricity prices were discussed at the meeting.

One of the topics discussed at the meeting, was stated that the way the weekly lesson program was implemented on Friday. 

BANDİKOS: “Students can leave school on Fridays”

“In this regard, Bandikos confirmed what they had stated in our previous meeting and said that a one-off statement will be requested from the parents for the next academic year. Based on this declaration, he reiterated that students can leave school on Fridays before the Friday prayer time. Thus, we are pleased that our struggle with our parents has yielded a great deal of results.”

The following statements were included in the statement, which stated that there was no minority school that was decided to be closed in the next academic year:

“About school closure, which is another important issue that we have been focusing on with great sensitivity, Mr. Bandikos said that there is no decision taken for the next academic year at the moment. He clearly stated that they would push the conditions to the end in order not to take a decision to close any school.

Finally, Mr. Bandikosa was conveyed once again that the impact of price increases in the energy sector on the bills in our schools is also very negative.

They stated that they agreed with us on this issue as well, and that for this reason, they would express their opinion to the ministry on a serious increase in the allowances allocated to schools for the next academic year and an additional allowance for this academic year.

At the end of the meeting, which was held in a positive atmosphere and the importance of dialogue was emphasized; both officials declared that they were open to our suggestions for the improvement of minority education.

As the Minority Schools Councilors Union, we thanked Mr. Bandikos and Mr. Simeonidis for taking the time to listen and evaluate our requests and ideas.

We express our respect to the public once again that we believe that minority education will reach the level it deserves, with the steps to be taken in mutual understanding and dialogue.”