Distance learning in education is not just a temporary solution for an extraordinary period, but a project based on a long-term vision for the future, Education Minister Ziya Selçuk said Saturday.
Speaking at a press conference on education in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic in Istanbul, Selçuk said that Turkey sees distance learning as a project to transform the crisis into an opportunity for shaping the future of education.
Underlining the high demand for distance learning, the minister stated that Turkey’s Education Information Network (EBA) became the biggest digital education platform in the world in 2020, while it was also the most visited educational online site globally during the year.
The EBA was also the most searched word of 2020 by Turkish users in search engines, he said.
According to a survey conducted by the ministry, nearly 80 percent of participants expressed satisfaction with the system’s sufficiency.
Regarding Turkey’s switch to digital education and distance learning at the beginning phase of the pandemic, Selçuk said that they checked the examples from other countries on how to conduct education during such a period and saw that the rest of the world was also not ready for a response to this question.
