The official international education charity of the Turkish government, Turkish Maarif Foundation, has signed an agreement with Al-Hijra Club to set up an ultramodern school complex to provide quality education for students.
This partnership on the part of Turkish Maarif Foundation aims at expanding its educational systems to give opportunities for students to join the Maarif International Schools and benefit from the best programmes run by them.
Executive Board Member for Turkish Maarif Foundation, Professor Mehmet Ozkan, indicated that as part of the partnership Al-Hijra Club is offering an ultramodern facility to run the school while Maarif Foundation also brings onboard its expertise.
The partnership is also paving the way for five students to receive scholarships for their education, as well as graduates from Maarif International School.
Just like most international schools, Maarif will offer both Ghana Education Service and Cambridge curricula – as well as secondary language studies in Turkish, French, Arabic and English, which is the core language of education.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Turkish Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs. Ozlem Ergun Ulueren, indicated that Africa has become one of the pillars of Turkish foreign policy. She added that the fact the number of Turkish embassies across the continent has reached 43 is testament of the country’s robust relationship with African countries.
Turkey, according to the ambassador, has a strong focus on contributing to the development efforts of the continent through comprehensive and long-term policies. She added that establishment of the Turkish Maarif Foundation in 2016 constituted an important step forward, and the statutory purpose of the foundation is to provide educational services abroad on behalf of Turkey.
“In a short span of time, Turkish Maarif Foundation has turned into an education locomotive that has been operating in more than 470 schools, universities and training centres in 67 countries all over the world. It has been present with more than 130 schools across the African continent. And almost half of them have operated in 8 ECOWAS countries.
“The vision of Maarif International School is to become a world class educational institution through a well-planned teaching programme in line with international standards that nurture students to become critical thinkers, unearth their individual skills and abilities while fostering excellence in human development based on common values of humanity,” she said.
According to Her Excellency Ulueren, improving educational infrastructure and elevating educational capacity of Ghana will certainly be a net direct contributor to realisation of the vision. This corresponds with Turkey’s vision of assisting Ghana for the realisation of the African Union’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and agenda 2063.
She noted that the agreement signed between both parties marks a step forward for expanding the activities of Turkish Maarif Foundation in Ghana, and believes the operations of Turkish Maarif Foundation will gradually expand to other regions of the country.
