The movement that started out a quarter-century ago to support education for children abroad starting with the autonomous Azerbaijani republic of Nakhchivan has now reached 160 foreign countries, with the founders of the movement and its volunteers welcomed with open arms around the world.
Light Academy started as 8-4-4 system in 1998, in a small compound on Ngong Road in Nairobi, with eight students. The IGCSE system was introduced in 2001. It has now grown to accommodate 1,600 students in eight campuses, one in Malindi, two in Mombasa and five in Nairobi.
Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) Executive Director Mark Gibb has said no one, not even President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has the authority to close down Turkish schools in the US in response to the Turkish government’s bid to close down schools opened by entrepreneurs affiliated with the faith-based Gülen movement, which is also known as the Hizmet movement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited a few African nations, among them Somalia and Ethiopia. When looking at his media mouthpieces’ coverage of the trip and his declarations, it seems the primary reason of his trip was to “tell” the African nations to close schools that were established by civil society groups and private companies affiliated with the Hizmet movement.
Foreign students who are graduates of schools opened by Turkish entrepreneurs affiliated with the Hizmet movement all around the world, have expressed bewilderment over the government’s plan to shut down the schools, saying that the Turkish government is making a grave mistake in targeting these schools as they are renowned and praised for their high-quality education by foreigners.
The branding of Gulen-inspired schools as treasonous, thus, serves the purpose of Erdogan and not that of Africa. Even if he builds public schools in Africa, will he sustain it? Will he ensure that the government after him will not reverse the policy? Africa is wiser than the Turkish president thinks.
Government spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said the effort was discussed at the last Cabinet meeting and a presentation was made.ınç reminded the limits set by law and said, “We don’t have a duty to close down the Turkish schools there, and we lack the power, too.”