Turkey extends distance learning till late May over virus

Turkish national education minister on Wednesday announced that the country's distance education will continue until May 31 as part of measures to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Turkey first began distance education through broadcasting school lessons on March 23 with National Education Minister Ziya Selcuk teaching the first class to millions of students.

The remote lessons are available online and on TV.

Selcuk said that in the first 15 days of distance learning, the number of lessons via Education Information Network surpassed 650,000.

"Just 150,000 of these lessons were within the first week, and this number rose to 500,000 in the second week. We have established a new dimension to education by making nearly 200,000 of these lessons on the weekend," Selcuk added.

On March 13, Turkey had announced all educational facilities from primary schools to universities would be suspended so the virus could be contained in the country.

Turkey currently has 114,653 coronavirus cases, while the death toll in the country stands at 2,992, and a total of 38,809 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus.

The pandemic has killed more than 217,300 people worldwide and infected over 3.12 million, while at least 932,500 have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University of the US.