Republican People's Party (CHP) Niğde MP Ömer Fethi Gürer met with students and parents at the Şehit Yıldıray Kılınç Secondary School in Ulukışla's Eminlik village, which was built in 1967 by Middle East Technical University (METU) Faculty of Architecture Department of Architecture students and villagers, and supported the people of the village who reacted to the closure of the school.
The 58-student Şehit Yıldıray Kılınç Secondary School, which has 36 acres of land and attracts attention with its different architecture, was decided to be closed before the 2023-2024 academic year on the grounds that it did not meet the number of students in the directive.
Reacting to the closure of the school, parents, students and graduates met with MP Gürer in the school's garden.
CHP Niğde MP Ömer Fethi Gürer listened to students and parents reacting to the closure of the school in Eminlik village
TREASURY STORY
Hasan Baysal, one of the graduates of Şehit Yıldıray Kılınç Secondary School, reminded that years ago, when 2 students lost their lives in a heavy blizzard on their way to the secondary school in the district, the villagers requested the METU rectorate to build a secondary school here, and the 2nd year students of the Faculty of Architecture came here and built the school together with the village people. The school is an important central school in the villages of the region with hundreds of graduates.”.
THANKS TO THIS SCHOOL, THE FATE OF THE REGION HAS CHANGED
Hasan Baysal, who stated that the school changed the fate of this region, said, “If it wasn't for this school, I would have remained a shepherd. Thanks to this school, we went to higher schools, we found jobs in factories, my life changed, I got a profession, I worked and I live a happy life.”.
Hasan Baysal said that the school was closed for no reason and the transportation system was encouraged, “There is a distance of 30 km between the district and our village. 10-12 year old children will get up early in the morning, half sleepy, half hungry and be taken to school by shuttles. The child is already a mess by the time they get to school. These children are taken to school in vain.”.
DO NOT CLOSE OUR SCHOOL
Zeliha Gültepe, a parent of the students, pointed out that the children could hardly meet their own needs and said, “We do not want our school to be closed. We will not send our children to boarding school. These children cannot even take care of their own needs. They should not disrupt our order by closing our school.”.
HOW WILL WE LIVE ON MINIMUM WAGE IN THE CITY?
Yasemin Erdem, one of the parents of the students, said, “My husband works for minimum wage. If we go to the city, we will pay 5 thousand liras in house rent. How will we live with the remaining 6 thousand liras? They say ‘send your children to school’ but they are closing our school. There are people here who are engaged in animal husbandry. There are those with fields, vineyards and gardens. If the school is closed, they will either not send their children to school or they will have to quit their jobs.”.
THANKS TO THIS SCHOOL, WE BECAME CIVIL SERVANTS AND MADE A LIVING
The brother of Martyr Yıldıray Kılınç, for whom the school is named, pointed out that the school also receives students from the surrounding villages and said, “We do not want this school to be closed. Many of our villagers became civil servants thanks to this school, they got jobs thanks to this school. We appeal to our President, please don't close our school. If the transportation system is too heavy, everyone can pay their own transportation fee, but please don't close our school.”.
DON'T TEAR US AWAY FROM OUR SCHOOL
Stating that they were very saddened by the closure of their schools, the students said, “We don't want to be separated from our parents. They should not take away our right to study.”.
THEY WILL EITHER MIGRATE OR NOT SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO SCHOOL
CHP Niğde MP Ömer Fethi Gürer, who listened to the demands of students and parents, stated that if the school is closed, villagers will either have to leave their villages or not send their children to school and said, “Children will have to get up early in the morning and go to school sleepy. Parents will not be able to establish good relationships with their children's teachers. Or they will have to migrate from the village.”.
WHEN THE PRESIDENT WAS SUPPOSED TO OPEN 6,740 SCHOOLS?
Stating that schools continue to close in Turkey, CHP Niğde MP Ömer Fethi Gürer said, “Before the elections, our President Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu promised to reopen all closed village schools in Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also stated that he would open 6,740 closed schools. In the meantime, the elections were over, and while we were waiting for the schools to open after the elections, they started to close. One of them is the middle school in Eminlik. This school has 58 students, including students from villages in the region. It has teachers, the school building is sound. There is no reason for its closure. However, the political power is obsessed with closing a school. There is animal husbandry and farming in this village. If the school is closed, there is migration from the village. Young people leave the villages. As a result, those who do farming and animal husbandry are forced to quit this business.”.
IS THE SCHOOL'S 36 ACRES OF LAND BEING COVETED?
Pointing out that there is also 36 acres of land in Eminlik village belonging to the school built 56 years ago by ÖDTÜ students together with the villagers, CHP Niğde MP Ömer Fethi Gürer said, “This land is also in disrepair. Most likely, there may be an attempt by someone to seize it for its land. The school is usable in every aspect. In this sense, the people of the village do not want the school to be closed. Closing the school will also cause problems for students coming here from different villages.”.
POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION DOES NOT WANT PRODUCTION IN VILLAGES
Ömer Fethi Gürer, Niğde Deputy Ömer Fethi Gürer, who noted that as CHP, they have made programs to open village schools, said, “A school means a village, a village means a country. If villages are destroyed, there will be problems in access to food. Even today we consume imported food products. Rural areas have constantly emigrated and become increasingly empty, the average age in rural areas has risen above 55. There is youth in the village because there is a school. When the village school closes, the youth will leave. The problem is a problem of looking at the country. As agriculture declines, village life shrinks. They want no crops to grow in the fields in Eminlik; they want live animals, chickpeas and lentils to be brought from Russia, Ukraine and Brazil. They do not want us to produce. In addition to Eminlik village, village schools in Darboğaz and Yeniyıldız villages are also being closed. Is the President, who said he would open village schools before the elections, unaware of the closed village schools? He said,’ he said.
WARNING TO AUTHORITIES
Calling on the authorities, CHP Niğde Deputy Ömer Fethi Gürer said, “The people of the village do not want their schools to be closed. If their schools are closed and the transportation system is switched to, children will not sleep well, they will not be well fed, they will be away from the love and affection of their parents, and they will have health problems. Teacher-parent relationship will weaken. Girls will be less likely to be sent to school. Rural emptying. Agriculture regresses. Therefore, do not close village schools and even open the ones you have closed.”.
CHP provincial chairman, provincial women's branches minister, provincial general and municipal council members, CHP Ulukışla district chairman Hüseyin Toker and Hak-Lis chairman Hasan Yılmaz also took part in Gürer's village visit.