Hundreds of private schools shut down in Turkey during pandemic

Some 936 private schools have closed down in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkish Private Schools Association Chair (TÖZOK) Zafer Öztürk told the daily Sözcü. The closures are thought to have cost the industry a whopping 10 billion liras.

Friday January 08 2021 10:38 am

Duvar English

A shocking 936 private schools in Turkey have closed down during the COVID-19 pandemic, as 300,000 students withdrew their enrollment, Turkish Private Schools Association Chair (TÖZOK) Zafer Öztürk told the daily Sözcü.

"The number of closed schools will surpass a thousand, we should try to plan for next year despite everything," Öztürk said.

Meanwhile, students who are in eight grade, the final year before the high school entrance exams, and high school seniors should start in-class education to prepare for the national entrance exams, the chairman added.

Private schools have had to spend some four million liras of their emergency funds to cover more than 30 percent taxes to cover insurance, the chairman noted.

School closures during the pandemic have lowered the number of private schools in Turkey to 12,164, with a total of 1.2 million students enrolled, and the total cost of the pandemic on the industry is estimated to be around 10 billion Turkish liras.

Ankara has cut back taxes on private school tuition to one percent during the pandemic, but private schools asked the Education Ministry to offer parents financial incentives based on their kids' academic performance.