In the 2022-2023 school year, 4 more primary schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace will be closed. According to the decision taken by the Ministry of Education, due to the fact that the number of students is less than 9, the primary schools located in Ergani (Yardımlı) and Kikidion (Tuzçuköy) in the province of Rodopi and Akarpo (Koruköy) and Revma (Çaymahalle) in the province of Xanthi will be closed.
In the context of the economic austerity measures in Greece, the number of Turkish primary schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace has declined very rapidly since 2011 within the framework of the decision to close primary schools with less than 9 students throughout the country. Following the fact that the number of primary schools belonging to the Turkish community in Western Thrace fell to 188 in 2011, it decreased further to 103 in the 2021-2022 school year with the primary schools closed due to a lack of sufficient pupils. With this latest decision, the number of Turkish primary schools will decrease to 99.
“Although we, as the Turkish community in Western Thrace, gained a status of autonomy in the field of education within the framework of the Treaty of Lausanne and have thus the right to establish and manage our own schools, the autonomous structure in education has been distorted over the years. With the economic and financial crisis in our country, the number of our primary schools decreased rapidly due to the low number of pupils. With the decision of the Ministry, the number of our primary schools has decreased by almost half due to the decision of the Ministry to temporarily suspend the activities of schools with less than 9 students, including Turkish primary schools, for a period of 2 years and to close them at the end of 2 years. This is a very serious figure! Although we have an autonomous status in education, our country is closing our primary schools, and on the other hand, primary schools are being opened with only 4 children in our motherland Türkiye. We demand that the right to manage our own schools in accordance with our autonomous status and rights in education be implemented in accordance with the treaties, and we further request that the practice of closing our schools as a result of the decision of the ministry on the grounds of the low number of pupils be ended”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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