Members of the European Parliament (MEP) Loránt Vincze (Romania, EPP), François Alfonsi (France, Greens/EFA), Herbert Dorfmann (Italy, EPP) and Yana Toom (Estonia, Renew) submitted a written question titled ‘‘Access to quality pre-school education for children belonging to an autochthonous community in Western Thrace (Greece)’’ to the European Commission on 6 July 2023.
At the initiative of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), the written question was submitted with the joint signature of four Members of the European Parliament, and it is indicated that the Turkish community in Western Thrace living in Greece has the right to establish and manage their own schools within the scope of educational autonomy, but that due to the state’s approach, the number of the bilingual Turkish primary schools is decreasing.
Noting that there is not even one bilingual minority kindergarten in Western Thrace and that the Greek authorities have left unanswered the demands of the Turkish community for a private kindergarten, the written question indicates that access to quality early childhood education contributes to children’s healthy development and educational success, and that depriving children belonging to the Turkish community of pre-school education in their first language creates inequality in education.
In their written question, Vincze, Alfonsi, Dorfmann and Toom asked how the EU can better support the Member States in identifying and addressing challenges in early childhood education, taking into account children from linguistic minority backgrounds in particular.
Moreover, the four MEPs also asked what steps the European Commission intend to take to ensure that the educational rights of children belonging to the Turkish community are guaranteed under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU legislation.
