Istanbul Education Summit which was organized for the first time this year by the Turkish Maarif Foundation aims at becoming an international platform in the light of experiences of different countries where analyses, future perspectives, approaches, implementations and developments in the education community will be discussed.

 

Keynote speakers of the two day summit were President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer and Head of the Turkish Maarif Foundation Birol Akgül. Academicians and experts of renowned institutions such as OECD, PISA, UNESCO, the World Bank, Harvard University, Oxford University and Cambridge University as well as Nobel winner educators and authors participated in the summit.

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a video message to the opening ceremony of the summit.

 

Stressing that Maarif Foundation of Turkey was one of the institutions that represented Turkey, its national values and universal principles in the world, President Erdoğan said the foundation transferred the knowledge obtained from science and education tradition of Anatolia to young minds from different parts of the world and made contributions to raising moral and qualified generations for the common future and peace of humanity.

 

Erdoğan noted that he has been closely monitoring the activities of the foundation in line with its mission and went on to say that:

"Today, the foundation is providing education to approximately 50 thousand students in 414 education institutions in 47 countries in 6 continents. Members of the foundation have been working with dedication and compassion in the most difficult and troubled places of the world. Turkish Maarif Foundation plays an important role not only in recovering the damage caused by FETÖ but also in providing equal opportunity in education in the countries it works. Schools affiliated to the foundation have a share in the transformation and development of the world by implementing international education system principles in addition to local curriculum. With these activities, Turkey makes contributions to the quality of education goals for sustainable development declared in the United Nation's 2030 Vision Document."

 

"As a country that does not have colonial policy in its past, I believe that Turkey Maarif Foundation plays the role of pioneer in the reinforcement of education"

President Erdoğan stressed that schools affiliated to the foundation continued education without interruption during the pandemic by using education technologies.

 

Noting that this decision displayed during a crucial process revealed the quality of education mission of the foundation, Erdoğan stated:

"We see that schools of the foundation are highly appreciated in the countries where they have founded schools with the quality of education and teachers. We are proud of their success. We expect you to work harder with the power of being a member of a great state and nation. You must respect local needs and values while competing at the global level. As a country that does not have colonial policy in its past, I believe that Turkey Maarif Foundation plays the role of pioneer in the reinforcement of education. I wish that Istanbul Education Summit will be a milestone in defining a road map and increase the success of the foundation."

  

Meanwhile, Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer stated that the Turkish Maarif Foundation has been carrying out activities in all corners of the world from Asia to Europe, from America to Africa in all levels of education is an example for the world and it is the gate of Turkey to the world in international education as it successfully synthesized knowledge and tradition of our civilization with common values and cultural heritage of humanity.

 

"One of the prior goals of the Turkish Maarif Foundation is to boost the success levels of individuals in all areas. It aims at raising good persons who will build the future and will become the biggest tools that will fight against existing disputes, discrimination, marginalization and hate crimes," stated Özer.

  

Stressing that the foundation has reached a level within a short period of time that allows it compete with deep-rooted international education institutions, Özer said, "As of today, the school carries out education activities in international standards with 339 schools, 1 university and 14 education centers and has total of 47 thousand and 604 students."

 

Minister of National Education Özer stated that the world witnessed important transition and transformation in the social, political and economic fields in the 21st century and added:

 

"While we are witnessing rapid developments in the information and communication technologies, we also see that climate changes, natural disasters, wars and immigrations. The Corona virus pandemic that started in 202 caused a global shock. In addition to claiming the lives of millions of people, the pandemic caused a global crisis in health, economy, social and education systems. Countries shared experience about health and they must exchange experience and information in education in order to raise generations that will shape the future of the world."

                                            

Noting that unequal opportunity in education is among the biggest dangers in the entire world, Özer said, "filling the gap occurred during the pandemic and overcoming learning loss must be our biggest goal of education policies not only in country but in the entire world. We must work in an effort to reduce the damaging impact of pandemic on the academic, psychical, social and emotional development of children. We must prepare our education system to cases of emergencies."

 

Stressing that local and international public agencies, universities, nongovernmental organizations must cooperate in an effort to provide opportunities for children to have access to quality of education, Özer said, "We must not forget that children are the most valuable humanitarian capital that will build the future of the world." 

 

Meanwhile, Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMV) Chairman Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün stated that TMV is providing service to approximately 50 thousand students in 414 education institutions in 47 countries in 6 continents adding that, "We have been carrying out education activities in different parts of the world such as USA, Australia, Albania and Niger. We have education activities in 25 different countries in Africa."

 

He noted that the purpose of the summit is to gather decision-makers, politicians, education authorities, intellectuals, academicians, field experts and education institute administrators under the roof of an international platform in order to discuss future perspectives and approaches.

 

The summit ended on November 26, Friday following "Education and Development", "Remodeling of Education" and "Education and Social Justice" sessions.