August 27, 2024
Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMF), which has been operating in the South American country of Venezuela since 2018, is taking rapid steps towards becoming a “brand in education” with its 3 schools in the country.
Following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the capital Caracas on December 4, 2018, two schools operating under the terrorist organization FETÖ were closed and transferred to TMF.
“Turkish Maarif Foundation Venezuela Schools” continues its goal of becoming a brand in this field in the country with the high quality of education it offers.
The Foundation, which is recognized as Türkiye's window to the world in international education, is setting new goals in its 6th year in Venezuela.
TMF Venezuela Country Representative Kemal Çavlan stated that two schools were transferred to them within the scope of the agreement with the Venezuelan Ministry of Education and said that they reached 100 percent occupancy in 2021.
“Children of many prominent families receive education on our campuses”
Emphasizing that their biggest goal in Venezuela is to provide quality education, Çavlan said, “Our President Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün gave us the biggest support in this process. When we talked about the importance of growing in Venezuela, our president saw the potential in terms of education here and gave all his support for the opening of our third campus. In the third year, we have reached full capacity occupancy in three campuses.”
Stating that they care about the competence of teachers in education, Çavlan continued as follows:
“The children of many well-known families from academia to social life, from politics to bureaucracy receive education in our campuses. When you look at Google searches, two campuses of TMF Venezuela schools are among the top 7 schools in the country. We reward our successful students with honor certificates every year. We contribute to Venezuelan education by educating a high number of quality students. Municipalities and NGOs cooperate with us and promote our education quality everywhere. We show the power of the Republic of Türkiye and our nation here. In this way, we achieve great success. Our goal is to maintain the 'happy parent, happy student' profile we have achieved.”
Çavlan stated that they currently have 728 students and that they are working over capacity, and that they will increase this number to 800 in the 2024-2025 academic year.
“We will try to get a bigger share of the education pie”
Sharing the information that more than 350 students have graduated from the Foundation's schools in Venezuela so far, Çavlan said, “We want to grow further in Caracas, which means opening new schools. We will try to get a bigger share of the education pie by taking advantage of the potential in the region.”
Çavlan said that they have signed joint cultural projects between the two countries, and that for the last two years, student dance groups representing Venezuela have participated in performances organized in Istanbul and Ankara as part of the April 23 TRT Children's Festivals.
Pointing out that Maarif Foundation students have received many awards in Venezuela, Çavlan said:
“In the programs organized by the municipal education unit we are affiliated with here, our teachers receive teacher of the year awards, while our students receive academic achievement and excellence awards, reinforcing our achievements in Venezuela and our efforts to become a brand. We are proud that our education students are so successful. We also support international relations students at universities by including them in projects related to Türkiye.”
Çavlan added that Maarif Foundation is carrying out different projects in Venezuela in cooperation with the Turkish Embassy in Caracas and that they are working with all their strength to promote Türkiye in the best way possible.
