Turkey fully prepared for high school entrance exam

Turkey has taken all preventive measures against coronavirus prior to the high school entrance exam (LGS) which will take place on Saturday, the education minister said Thursday.

"The number of examination centers has been increased to around 18,000 from 13,000 because we want the students to be comfortable," Ziya Selcuk told Anadolu Agency Editors' Desk.

The number of invigilators has also been increased to 353,000 from 148,000 to provide better assistance to students, he added.

He said separate centers have been allocated for children who are quarantined due to coronavirus.

Prior to entering the examination hall, students will wear a new mask.

However, if they wish, they can remove the mask during the exam, Selcuk added.

In Turkey, any student who successfully completes eight years of basic education can go to high school by taking the LGS test.

- Success of distance learning

Selcuk said Turkey is among the top three countries in the world that took swift measures to start distance learning amid the pandemic.

While many countries shut down schools in a bid to counter the outbreak, Turkey and China were among the few that commenced online or remote education initiatives.

Shortly after schools were shut down in Turkey, 18 million students began receiving lessons through specially designed television programs and online.

Three state-run TRT channels were designated exclusively for primary, secondary, and high school lessons.

Live sessions were also hosted for hand-on interaction between students and teachers.

Turkey started distance learning TRT EBA TV and EBA Internet application on March 23.

Selcuk said that EBA was the most visited education website in the world amid the pandemic.

- School reports to be given online

“We want our students to receive their school reports from e-Okul (e-school) with their parents. We know that it is not right for millions of children to come to schools to take their reports. So we want them to receive reports on digital, electronic environments,” Selcuk said.

He went on to say they will not show haste in reopening schools and risk a second wave of the outbreak.

"We are well-prepared to deal with all possible scenarios," he added.

*Contributions and writing by Sena Guler