Deputy Minister Nazif Yılmaz attended the 7th meeting of Ministers of Education of OTS held in Uzbekistan/Samarkand. The meeting was hosted by the Minister of Preschool and School Education of Uzbekistan, H.E. Hilola Umarova. The ministers and deputy ministers of education of Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan participated in the meeting as well as the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev.

 

Emphasizing the importance of cooperation and knowledge and experience sharing between Turkic states which have historical and cultural unity, in the field of education just as in other fields, Yılmaz emphasized that the reasons for coming together today are not only their languages, common histories, geography and cultures, but also their desire and will to build a prosperous future and the Century of Türkiye together. Yılmaz stated that they attach great importance to this meeting, which aims to develop cooperation in education between friend and brother countries.

 

Explaining that as OTS, there is a need to raise qualified young generations with its young and dynamic population structure Yılmaz noted that the perception of education develops every day and new searches and structures bring about a rapid change. Yılmaz said that the way to adapt to this change is to raise the quality of education and train qualified manpower.

 

Stating that common Turkish history, common Turkish literature and Turkish World Geography textbooks are currently being taught in schools in Türkiye in line with the decisions taken at the OTS summit meetings, Yılmaz stressed that these books should be taught in all countries in order to further strengthen the cultural and historical ties between brother countries.

 

Deputy Minister Nazif Yılmaz added that it would be very beneficial to mutually host students during the summer holidays, and that in this context, Türkiye is ready to host secondary school students from brother countries during the summer holidays.

 

Ministers of Education of the OTS member states evaluated the issues on subjects related to education. In this context, the initiation of the Sister Schools Partnership Program among the OTS member states, the organization of the Harezmi Mathematics Olympiad in Uzbekistan, the studies on early childhood education and childcare, as well as the issues related to the higher education student exchange program were discussed in the meeting.