Millions of students begin 3-month summer break in Türkiye

ISTANBUL

The final school bell of the academic year rang across Türkiye on June 26, marking the start of a three-month summer break for approximately 18 million students and 1.2 million teachers.

As pupils received their report cards, senior students of middle schools and high schools also anxiously awaited the results of the nationwide examinations they had taken in recent weeks.

“Dear my students, we have left another academic year behind us. Now, an important period awaits you to rest, recharge and develop yourselves,” Education Minister Yusuf Tekin wrote on X.

In an interview with TRT Haber on June 26, Tekin said that starting from Sept. 14, when the new academic year begins, security measures in schools will be significantly strengthened.

He noted that all school camera systems will be integrated into the Police Department’s central security system, allowing law enforcement units to monitor school environments in real time.

“We are integrating the camera systems in our schools into the KGYS network. Police units will be able to monitor through these cameras. Some of our schools have high walls, others do not. Each school will have a security system tailored to its own conditions,” he said.

Tekin also added that a cooperation mechanism with the Interior Ministry and guidance services would be developed to monitor behavioral patterns in digital environments.

A school shooting in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş in April sent shockwaves across the nation after a student opened fire, killing one teacher and nine students.

Meanwhile, the families of children killed in the shooting gathered outside the school where the incident took place, which is currently suspended from educational activities. Expressing their grief, one parent said:

“We hug each other and try to feel their scent. I don’t know what can ease this pain, but we want our children’s names to live everywhere, in every street, every school,” said Tuğba Belli, mother of Furkan Sancak Balal.