Closing ceremony of the Project on “Strengthening Democratic Culture in Basic Education”, funded by the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE), and implemented in co-operation by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) and the CoE was organised on 21 September 2022 in Ankara.
The meeting started with the opening speeches of Ambassador Mr Faruk Kaymakcı, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs; Ambassador Mr Nikolaus Meyer Landrut, Head of EU Delegation to Turkey; Mr Tuncay Morkoç, Director General of Basic Education of the MoNE; Mr Barbaros Murat Köse, Acting Director of Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU); and Ms Sarah Keating, Head of Co-operation and Capacity Building Division of the CoE.
At his opening speech, Ambassador Kaymakcı, expressed his satisfaction with the results of the Project and reminded the importance of culture of democracy in the development of societies.
During his opening speech, Ambassador Landrut, underlined the importance of the works carried out in the field of education and stated that they will continue supporting this field.
Mr Morkoç, at his opening speech, stated that the activities carried out by the Project, such as the development of competences for democratic culture, increasing the child participation, involving parents to processes, strengthening the capacities of teachers and school administrators, were well-received in the field, and that the efforts will be made by the Ministry for the dissemination of these results.
Ms Sarah Keating, representing the Council of Europe, informed the audience about the CoE’s works in the field of education and reminded the importance of continuation of the on-going co-operation with the MoNE.
Among the participants of the conference, were the Provincial Directors of Education in 10 pilot provinces, teachers and school administrators from Project’s 110 pilot schools, representatives from public institutions and NGOs, and national and international experts.
To include an international perspective, representatives from various education projects, implemented by the CoE, along with the officials from Ministries of Education from CoE Member States were also invited, and participants exchanged their experiences regarding the examples of practice in different countries.
During the afternoon sessions, two separate panels were organised on the Whole School Model, and the teacher trainings, where panellists discussed different works carried out in this field both in Türkiye and in other Member States of the CoE. During the discussions, participants shared the different practices in the field of education, and get informed about the details of the democratic school culture and the CoE’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture.
The Project on Strengthening Democratic Culture in Basic Education
The Project aims to integrate a democratic school culture that corresponds with universal core values as well as fundamental rights and freedoms into the Turkish national education system. All four of the project’s components - policy recommendations, education materials, capacity building and democratic school culture – integrated the Council of Europe’s “Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture”, the conceptual model of competences needed to participate effectively in a culture of democracy
For more details you can visit the Project’s webpage.
