As part of the European Union - Council of Europe Joint Project on Strengthening Democratic Culture in Basic Education, “Whole School Model Launching Meeting” took place in Ankara on 21-22 October 2019. The participants of the meeting included representatives of the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), Provincial and District Directors of National Education and heads of units for basic education from the pilot cities of the Project, and representatives of the Council of Europe.
The meeting started with the opening speeches of Prof. Mustafa Safran, Deputy Minister of National Education; Dr. Cem Gençoğlu, Director General for Basic Education, and Pınar Başpınar, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara. Emphasising the importance that the Council of Europe attaches to the Project and cooperation with Turkey, Ms Başpınar thanked all stakeholders, particularly the Ministry of National Education, for the sincere and constructive cooperation they have demonstrated so far. Mr Safran stated that the Whole School Model will enable all actors related to the schools to be involved in the improvement of the schools, and he pointed out the importance of the role of provincial and district administrations in this process.
The meeting continued with presentations on the conceptual framework and general structure of the model prepared within the scope of the project and the expectations from the provincial and district directorates of national education in the implementation of the model. The model, which will be implemented in 2019-2020 academic year in 110 pilot schools that were selected on a voluntary basis, will be also introduced to the principals, teachers and parents of the pilot schools in Ankara on 24-25 October 2019.
Following the pilot implementation in the 2019-2020 academic year, the Whole School Model will be revised in line with the evaluation and feedback and continue to be tested in the 2020-2021 academic year.