Educationist Doğan Yücel shared some of his memories from 2006 and 2007 when he worked in Lahore. He wrote how level of education was raised for both teachers and students through summer camps and courses.

Part Nine:

We organized traditional summer programs held every year for increasing the quality of education at PakTurk Schools. In 2006, with the participation of all our teachers from Multan, Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad, the northern region subject specialists had a convention. It was a program with abundant work. Meanwhile, teachers from Karachi, Khairpur Mirs and Quetta had their convention as the southern region subject specialists in Quetta. Teachers were also given seminars on different subjects. During the summer camp at the University of Peshawar, ideas were exchanged with the faculty of the university.

After the earthquake in 2005, a trip was organized with the participation of Mian Imran Masood, then Punjab Minister for Education, to observe the relief activities carried out by PakTurk in AJK. Our principal, Mr. Turgut Puyan, was with the minister.

Activity-laden Eids

The blessed month of Ramadan was left behind as fully experienced in 2006. After each month of Ramadan in Pakistan, we used to lament and “wish all months were like Ramadan!” Only those who breathe the air of those days and taste the flavours know how difficult it was to wait another year for the iftars eaten with our parents, students, journalists, academics, businessmen, state officials, and Pakistanis who spoke Turkish.

After Ramadan, that year’s Eid-al-Adha was also active. As two PakTurk branches in Lahore, we organized a sacrifice and distribution program. We carried out the slaughter and meat distribution of 550 cattle sacrificed by people from Turkey and different parts of the world in Pakistan. Chopped and packed meat was distributed to approximately 10,000 families and 50,000 people could eat sacrificial meat. A heartfelt ‘thank you’ once again to everyone who contributed to this beautiful gesture.

Turkey became a popular destination for higher education

In those years, we provided a free Foreign Student Exam (YÖS) preparation course for students who wished to have their university education in Turkey. There was great interest in the weekend courses open to all 12th graders in Lahore. Thanks to these courses, Turkey gradually became a preferred destination for Pakistani students to have higher education.

We started organizing summer school programs in Turkey during the summer of 2007. Our students learnt Turkish for two weeks at the summer school in Kayseri, and also toured several historical and touristic places across Turkey… The summer camps, which grew into a tradition, witnessed colourful scenes. Games, entertainment, sports events, quizzes and more were held throughout the week. Our male boarding and day students from grades 6 and above had welcomed summer with a pleasant camp in Turkey.

Likewise, a one-week reading and study camp was organized for our students during the semester break. Fun programs were prepared besides revision classes. Our motto was “There’s no holiday at PakTurk!”

To be continued…

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Part Eight: