R Ergin, Consul General of Turkey in London, hosted Teachers’ Day celebrations for Turkish and Turkish Cypriot teachers working in England, on 24 November in the official day in Turkey and abroad, was celebrated in London with enthusiasm.
The teachers were welcomed at the Consulate General after the activities of Turkey’s London Training Consultancy and the TRNC London Culture and Education Attaché at the Yunus Emre Cultural Centre. Turkey’s Deputy Education Adviser to London Hasan Ünsal, TRNC Education and Culture Attaché Gülgün Özçelik, President of the Turkish Language, Culture and Education Consortium UK Necmi Hasanoğlu, Head of the Turkish Teachers Association of England Mansur Işıkbol, along with Turkish language and culture teachers in the UK from Turkey and TRNC were in attentens.
In the speech that Ergin, he highlighted: “November 24 Happy Teachers day to all of you. I think teachers are the profession teaching everyone who fulfil their profession. So it is not like any other occupation. Just as a ceramic artist shapes the mud, a gardener to plant seeds, you give a tiny human figure that is important to all of them. It’s a big responsibility. Obviously a nation expects the next generations to be able to shine bright from you. We are looking into your eyes so that you can grow generations of Ataturk who will take our country to the level of contemporary civilization.”
“Of course this responsibility is even more so in abroad. I want to underline this especially. Because we are from the UK, from the KKTC and from Turkey we are about 600-700 thousand or more as a Turkish speaking society. I want to mention something here. I do not see any difference between those coming from Turkey and those coming from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus tonight. “I remember with great mercy the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Eternal Head Teacher. Our teachers, who are primarily martyrs at the beginning, wish all of our teachers who have passed away forever to have mercy from Allah and I am grateful to them with respect.”
THE PROBLEMS WERE SOUGHT
The teachers who participated in the event voiced the problems they had experienced to find solutions. Trainers working in London on personal rights say that minimum wage salaries are not sufficient due to high house rents, he said. The salaries of those working outside London and London should be different. Reminding them that they have to renew their visas every year, the teachers said that a teacher with a family of 4 paid a visa fee of 15 thousand Turkish Liras each year.
Consul General Ergin, who received notes for the dissemination of shared problems, assessed the issues with Education Consultant Vekili Ünsal and Education Consortium President Hasanoğlu.
After their conversation, the teachers were accompanied by Burhan Alıç, Sabriye Uz and Mehmet Toyran, all of whom were accompanied by a music concert, including Consul General Ergin.
