In Union County, we have roughly 50 schools. Each has a principal, and the principals report to the superintendent. He is the "one in charge", making sure all 30,000 students are given the best education possible.
In Istanbul, the arrangement is different. Each public school has a principal, then there are associate directors, and other positions going up until the "manager". The Manager of the school system is responsible for the education of 3.2 million children. He said that his main responsibility was to pass down mandates from the Ministry of Education and facilitate completion of these.
Obviously, this man had a busy schedule but was eager to meet the educators from America. He answered all of our questions and was very gracious. At the end, when we exchanged gifts, he gave our group leader a gold plate embedded with crystals. He then turned around and said he wanted to give something else - and that "something else" was his old football (soccer) jersey. He had been a pro football player years ago, and his team had won the championship one year. This jersey he gave our leader was the one he had been wearing in the championship game. Just another example of the kindness and generosity of the Turkish people we met...
No comments:
Post a Comment