The newly built, “Ömürlü – Kemal Atlı Yeniboğaziçi Primary School” was inaugurated on Monday with a ceremony attended by President Ersin Tatar, Speaker of Parliament Zorlu Töre, Prime Minister Ünal Üstel, Minister of National Education Nazım Çavuşoğlu as well as other state officials and representatives.
Officials who delivered speeches during the ceremony expressed their ongoing commitment to renewing the country’s education infrastructure.
The Ömürlü – Kemal Atlı Yeniboğaziçi Primary School was constructed as part of an ongoing campaign by the Education Ministry to build new education facilities in cooperation with private investors.
The construction of the new school was financed by Kotitaş Kıbrıs Tourism Ltd.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of National Education Nazım Çavuşoğlu said that the government remained committed to building new and safer schools for the country’s children.
Çavuşoğlu thanked the sponsor company for the construction of the new school particularly in light of the concerns that arose after the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Türkiye.
Prime Minister Ünal Üstel in his speech also reiterated the government’s ongoing efforts to reinforce buildings at schools and to construct new schools across the country.
He said that the government had prepared projects to reinforce buildings at 41 schools and had launched tenders for 15 of them.
Üstel added that tenders for the construction of 10 new schools were also expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
“We’ve made history by deriving lessons from the [February 6, 2023] earthquake and conducting resilience tests against earthquakes in all our schools. Immediately, we formed our Prime Ministry earthquake inspection committee. We gathered all the expert civil society organizations in our country on this committee and conducted science-based studies. Within this scope, we conducted a total of 1385 tests in 746 buildings in 162 schools. As you know, there are multiple buildings in each school. Our earthquake committee, along with relevant institutions, identified the need for reinforcement in 405 individual buildings in approximately 120 schools. Not only did we identify this, but we also took action. We immediately prepared reinforcement projects for 41 schools. We initiated the tender process for reinforcement projects in 15 schools. In addition, we have blocked funds for 10 more schools, and their tenders are also nearing completion. So far, we have generated nearly ₺1bn in financing to complete these projects, and the process is ongoing,” the prime minister said.
The Speaker of Parliament Zorlu Töre in his speech said that they will continue to work for the welfare and prosperity of the country.
Also addressing the ceremony, President Ersin Tatar said that each new school built in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was an investment for the future of the country.
Following the delivery of speeches, Prime Minister Ünal Üstel and the Minister of National Education Nazım Çavuşoğlu presented the Director of Kotitaş Kıbrıs Tourism Ltd. Kenan Atlı with a plague of appreciation.
The ceremony came to an end with a folklore dance performance by students.