Education and Cultural Attache Gülgün Özçelik has completed her term at the TRNC London Representative Office, and has retired from her position.
Issuing a farewell message Gülgün Özçelik, thanked the education community and called on the Turkish speaking community in England to send their children to Turkish schools.
she said “I am retiring as of 31 August 2019 and completing my duty in London, where I was assigned as Education and Culture Attache for 3.5 years before the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
During my tenure, I witnessed the efforts of our children living in the UK learning not to forget their language and culture. I admired the devotion of every segment from students to parents, teachers to school administrators.
Both me and our teachers from Northern Cyprus are here to serve our children. It is our foremost duty to make a small contribution to their education.
We have 11 teachers appointed in schools within the Consortium of Turkish Language, Culture and Education in England.
As of 2017, the term of office of the teachers who have been increased from 1 year to 2 years has been increased. This enabled teachers to be more productive
We ask parents who live far from their homeland to send their children to Turkish Language and Culture Schools. Our students not only learn Turkish in our schools, but they have also learnt about our history, values, cuisine, music and culture.
However, I would like to emphasize that the Turkish course taken one day a week is not enough and you must speak Turkish at home.
Dear parents, please note that in the UK, Turkish is considered a foreign language. The success of your children in Turkish GCSE and A Level exams will give them an advantage in their educational life and later in their business life.
I would like to thank all the educational volunteers, parents and students I met with my sincere wishes and wish you much success in these devoted works. ”