‘Students cannot access distance education due to power cuts in Mardin’

* Photo: HDP

Click to read the article in Turkish

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Mardin MP Pero Dündar has expressed concern that students have problems with accessing the distance education system in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin due to power cuts of the Dicle Electricity Distribution Corporation (DEDAŞ).

CLICK - Stop power cuts in Mardin!

Addressing a Parliamentary question to Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk, Dündar has noted that students had serious difficulties accessing distance education in March-June period, when face-to-face education was suspended as part of novel coronavirus measures.

"The statement regarding an imminent return to face-to-face education has caused concerns among thousands of parents, students and teachers in Mardin, where the number of cases is extremely high," Dündar has said, listing the problems of schools in Mardin briefly as follows:

"...the insufficient number of teachers, the occupancy rate of classrooms, the situation of students who have to cover kilometers on foot to access education and the hygiene problems in schools..."

Against this backdrop, Dündar has asked Minister of Education Selçuk a series of questions, including question about the EBA distance education system that can be reached on the Internet or TV:

• Considering that the outbreak cannot still be taken under control, does restarting face-to-face education not mean risking public health?
• What pandemic measures have been taken at schools?
• How many students living in Mardin and its districts can access the education given on the EBA system? How many students cannot?
• What does your Ministry do to eliminate the lack of technical means preventing students from accessing education on the EBA system?
• What measures have been taken in schools in Mardin and its districts to provide protection from the virus?
• Given that there was already a lack of education personnel before the pandemic, will additional teachers be appointed to teach in classrooms with a fewer number of students in Mardin and its districts?
• Have the necessary arrangements been made in teacher's rooms, canteens, dining halls and other parts of the schools in Mardin and its districts to provide physical distance?
• Have the necessary preparations made in the sick rooms of the schools in Mardin and its districts?
• Have the necessary measures been taken to facilitate the transportation of teachers and students to the schools in Mardin and its districts?

(RT/SD)