Over 1.3M students back to school in 3 quake-hit Turkish provinces

By Mehmet Akif Parlak, Omer Yildiz, Fikret Kavgali and

GAZIANTEP/ADANA, Türkiye (AA) - Over 1.3 million students in Türkiye’s quake-hit Gaziantep, Adana and Osmaniye provinces returned to schools on Monday.

As many as 662,500 students in Gaziantep, 497,850 in Adana, and 137,760 pupils in Osmaniye resumed lessons after renovation and repair works in their school buildings, which were damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that tore through southern Türkiye, killing nearly 48,000 people.

Students entered the classrooms after a moment of silence and singing the Turkish national anthem.

Education in schools restarted after being given clearance by the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry.

Meanwhile, preparations to resume classes in Adiyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaras and Hatay provinces on March 27 continue.

More than 13 million people have been affected by the powerful quakes that rocked 11 Turkish provinces – Kahramanmaras, Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa. Many schools and dormitories are also accommodating the quake survivors.