Turkish School Enhances Cultural Ties Between Turkey, Bangladesh
The International Turkish Hope School in Bangladesh has been making considerable contributions to bilateral cultural cooperation between Turkey and Bangladesh.
Çetin Işilak, the general manager of the International Turkish Hope School, said the school was established in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, in 1996, and it was officially opened by former President Süleyman Demirel in March 1997. Işilak explained that initially having only one site and just a few students, the school now has about 1,200 students at seven campuses ─ five in Dhaka, one in Chittagong and another in Bogra.
The main campus of the school was built on an 8,000-square-meter-area of land granted by the Bangladeshi government. About 20 percent of students are foreign students, while the remainder are Bangladeshi. Like other private schools in the country, it follows the national curriculum of the United Kingdom. Education starts at the age of 3 and the school provides education for 16 years until the end of high school, including a four-year nursery school. The language of instruction at the school is English, but Turkish is also taught, starting from the third grade of primary school.
In 2006, a student from Bangladesh managed to score grade A, the highest mark, in five courses in the international GCE "A"-Level exams. The exam results allowed the student to be admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world's most respected universities, with a full educational grant, becoming the first student ever accepted to MIT from the school. In GCE "O"- and "A"-level exams held in June, five students managed to score top marks in seven subjects.
Deputy visits
The Turkish delegation including several Turkish deputies arrived in Bangladesh for the opening of a primary school built by the Turkish Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) aid association in the Bangladeshi district of Galachipa. This district was ravaged by Hurricane Sidr last year in a natural disaster that killed thousands. The delegation also paid a visit to the Turkish school in the Gulshan district of Dhaka. During the visit, Şanliurfa deputy Yahya Akman, Samsun deputy Birnur Şahinoğlu and Adana deputy Fatoş Gürkan inspected the school's facilities.
Gürkan noted that the school, which provides educational services to 165 students with 15 teachers, made her feel good. "We are glad to see that students receive quality education. It is said that it is the best school in the region. Turkey may be 50 years ahead of Bangladesh. We hope that Bangladesh, too, will provide good education like Turkey," she said. Şahinoğlu was introspective: "I am feeling considerably emotional. I watch with pride how our schools in foreign countries make good contributions to the countries they are in. The children who will be educated in these schools will bring light to the world."
Akman noted that Bangladesh is one of the poorest Muslim countries in the world. "The Turkish people who go to these countries and strive to improve education deserve to be praised for their efforts," he said. Manisa deputy Recai Berber and Aksaray deputy İlknur İnceöz thanked school managers for their services.
Ceremony at the school
A ceremony was held to honor the Turkish delegation on the Dhaka campus of the International Turkish Hope School. Soniya Redhwan, a student who came fourth in the poetry category of the Turkish Language Olympics in 2004, sang the famous Turkish song, "Arda Boylarinda." Farzana Siddique, who won a gold medal in the song category of this year's Olympics, read the poem "Göçebe" (Nomad). Khairul Anam Nakib, who came fifth in the skills category of the 2007 Olympics, impersonated Kadir İnanir, Fatih Terim, Müslüm Gürses, Sadettin Teksoy and Reha Muhtar. Rifatul Hasan Ritul, who won the silver medal in the skills category of this year's Olympics, also entertained the audience with several impersonations. The Turkish delegation and the Turkish ambassador to Bangladesh, Şakir Özkan, attended the event.
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