"We are working for full-day education"

The Minister of National Education Nazım Çavuşoğlu said that the ministry did not have the legal right to intervene in the prices charged for education at private schools adding that his duty was to give opportunities to students wanting to receive education at state-run schools.

Speaking on a TV programme, Minister Çavuşoğlu referred to requests made to him to intervene on the prices being charged for pupils at private schools in the TRNC that are more or less 50-60 Turkish Liras annually. “I have no legal ground to increase or decrease prices of private schooling,” Çavuşoğlu said.

Referring to the view on the issue by private school owners Çavuşoğlu said, private school owners, said that the fees charged are the cost of the service provided and that the choice was down to the public.

Çavuşoğlu said that his responsibility, as TRNC Minister of Education, was to ensure that pupils wanting to enrol in TRNC state schools have a school desk and chair. “We are working for full-day education, but unfortunately we are experiencing problems with the infrastructure, cafeterias, and school buildings.

We need a 30-35 per cent increase of school teaching staff.

Therefore the state can only apply this system slowly and region by region.

We are hoping to work on this issue after the year ahead” Çavuşoğlu said.

Minister Çavuşoğlu also vowed to carry out necessary arrangements in the law to benefit from the talents and knowledge of the teaching staff.