Students to return to schools in 4 provinces in Türkiye's quake-hit regions as of March 1

By Mumin Altas

ANKARA (AA) – Students will return to schools in four provinces of Türkiye’s quake-hit regions as of March 1, the national education minister said on Monday.

“As of March 1, we resume education in city centers and all districts of Adana, Kilis, Diyarbakir, and Sanliurfa,” Mahmut Ozer told reporters in the Malatya province, one of the heavily hit regions by the Feb. 6 massive quakes.

In Gaziantep and Osmaniye provinces, the school break due to the quakes was extended to March 13, Ozer noted, adding that in Adiyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaras, and Hatay, education is expected to resume on March 27.

“We will not start education in any building that does not have a quake-resistant report (in quake-hit provinces),” he added.

On Monday, students returned to schools across Türkiye except in 11 quake-hit provinces.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes on Feb. 6 were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

At least 41,020 people were killed by the twin earthquakes in Türkiye, according to the latest official figures. Thousands of others were injured.