Turkey to reopen schools in September, minister says

Turkey plans to reopen schools on Sept. 6 amid good progress with the country's vaccination drive, the national education minister said on July 5.

Ziya Selçuk made the announcement while speaking with the Turkish private news channel Habertürk.

Referring to the National Education Ministry's efforts for allowing students to access online learning during the time schools were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Selçuk noted that around 750,000 tablets were distributed to needy students to follow the online classes.

He also noted that around 90 percent of the teachers in the country have been vaccinated.

Underscoring the importance of interaction between children and animals, Selçuk said that around 20,000 schools now regularly feed dogs.

Amid a nationwide fall in virus cases and an expedited inoculation drive, Turkey has entered a new normalization phase, lifting almost all virus-related restrictions.

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