Honourable Principal,

Dear Teachers and Learners,

I am pleased to be here today to officially hand-over 800 school desks to the Shifwankula School, donated by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) on behalf of the Republic of Türkiye, as an educational infrastructure support project to the Zambian Government. This donation is timely, as it has already arrived at the beginning of the school year this year.

This project was initiated by the Zambian Government and taken up by the Turkish Government in 2019 as my predecessor Ambassador İncesu and officials from TIKA visited the school on 15 October 2019. I am happy to be here for the hand-over ceremony, after the official procedures, procurements and logistics were finally successfully completed this year.

I chose the 24th of November to visit your school, as timely for us, since we mark every year on the 24th Teachers Day in Türkiye, remembering our teachers who left their mark on us and respecting their efforts, dedication and sacrifices every day.

On this occasion, I would like to commend the work undertaken by the Ministry of Education, and the authorities and teachers of the schools to increase the level of quality learning and to better the standards of the schools, together with their partners. The children, the learners are the future. Any investment on their education is for a better future for them and their communities, and for the country in general.

Zambia can count on the continued support of the Turkish authorities in many fields, including in the field of education. TİKA, the agency responsible for implementing and coordinating Türkiye’s development cooperation policy, is supporting Zambia especially in terms of capacity and institution building in the fields of education, health, agriculture, tourism and others since early 2000s. TİKA will -on its part- continue to support Zambia’s development agenda. Thank you.

İstem CIRCIROĞLU, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye