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| A new school term beckons - and a new school |
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| Thursday, 10 September 2009 |
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The new school will initially have 190 pupils, but it is designed to take up to 400, aged between 6 and 14 years of age. The headmaster is Faruk Atilgan, an experienced teacher who is originally from Muş, in the east of Turkey, and who formerly taught in Yeşilköy. Working with him will be 15 teachers - 10 full time, and 5 shared with other schools, plus 3 further assistants working in the school. Kalkan Turkish Local News visited the new school and spoke to Durmuş about the project. We asked Durmuş to compare this new school with the one he went to. He told us that back in the 1940s schooling in Islamlar was quite basic. Durmuş recalls that there was one teacher teaching 5 classes of children, all in the same room. The building had no electricity. There was no proper floor in the room - just compacted soil. Durmuş left school when he was 12 to make his way in the world. After a brief spell as a tailor, he began selling motorbikes. He also began a motorbike and side-car dolmuş service. In those days everybody walked everywhere, so this was quite an innovation for a place like Islamlar. Soon Durmuş started to sell spare parts, as well as the motorbikes themselves. In 1990 he bought a bus which ran a service between Kalkan, Kaş and Antalya. In the same year he started selling cars. With the money he made from his businesses, Durmuş bought several properties and areas of land in Islamlar, Akbel and Kalkan. So Durmuş is a self made man, and very wealthy. But why did he decide to spend a significant amount of money on building this school? Durmuş told us that as a schoolboy, the school facilities were quite poor, and he remembers saying that one day, if he were to become a rich man, he would build a school for local children. And so, in 2009, some 60 years later, he has fulfilled that promise to himself. It's a wonderful gesture from someone who clearly loves the community he lives in, and it will be a lasting legacy that will improve the prospects of generations of children in the future. Turning to the building itself, it is bright, functional and well finished. There are 14 air-conditioned classrooms on 4 floors, including a science laboratory and an IT suite. There is also of course an office for the head teacher and a large staff room, plus a few ancillary rooms, including a small library. Many rooms have wonderful views towards Patara Beach and the mountains beyond. There are plenty of lockers for children and staff to put their belongings, and the desks are arranged in rows facing the front of the class, so that children are fully engaged with the teachers. When we visited, the school was having several computers installed. Many of them will be linked to projectors so that online learning modules can be displayed to the whole class. Outside is a good sized playground, water and toilet facilities. Alongside the school, a separate sports/activities area is being built, which will also be available to the wider community for functions and parties. One can only wonder what the teacher that Durmuş had all those years ago would make of such a magnificent, purpose built facility. Who knows, but perhaps the children of Akbel will have a bit of a spring in their step as they go back to school this term. Below: the brand new Durmuş - Gülser Gedikoğlu Ilköğretim Okulu in Akbel
Below: Durmuş Gedikoğlu in one of the new purpose built, air-conditioned classrooms
Below: Faruk Atilgan - headteacher at the new school
Below: Durmuş Gedikoğlu standing outside the school entrance
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 May 2011 |
When Şeker Bayram comes to an end later in September, pupils all over Turkey will be preparing themselves for a return to school.
