Temporary school tents flooded in North Cyprus, parents protest

About 260 Turkish Cypriot students were unable to attend class on Monday after their school was flooded with water as a result of the heavy rain across Cyprus.

The students ran out of the 14 tents set up for Cumhuriyet High School in Geçitkale after they became flooded for about 3 hours on Monday. This caused the floor of the tent to be covered with mud and some submerged in water.

The tents were set up as temporary schools because of fears that the school, along with many others, were not earthquake proof.

With the help of the school administration, the students were sent home by public transport.

Images of the tents were shared on social media.

The Chamber of Civil Engineers (IMO) has assessed 750 buildings belonging to 200 schools to see whether or not they can withstand an earthquake.

Following the incident, a group of parents went to Karakol Primary School to protest because their children were not allowed to receive education in tents.

2 parents who made a press statement in the action criticized the events.

Veli Özlem Akbora said, "We are not at war, there has been no earthquake, but we are under the rubble. We have come to apologize for putting our children in this state, for not electing and auditing them for years. All the votes we have cast for 40 years are haram," said Veli Özlem Akbora.

Pointing out that there are 7 earthquake victims at the school, Akbora said, "Someone should say that you escaped from the earthquake, you took shelter in us as a normal country, but these are the conditions we offer you."

Akbora said, "This shame is all of us, someone should come and tell these children about the tents. Let them say we saw it. Nobody should tell me to go to private school if you don't like it. I will not go to private school either in health or education. If I pay my taxes, the state should provide me with these opportunities. I have to, aren't they angels?" he said.

Students meant to be in the tent classrooms will be studying on an alternating basis, with some of them doing distance learning at home.

Speaking after the tent schools opened, Cavusoglu said that 14 classrooms at Namik Kemal were usable, after being evaluated by the earthquake committee.

He said that some of the classes from a nearby school will also be used, after March 30, but that until then some of the students would need to attend class in tents.

Commenting on the flood images and social media reactions by people saying they were ashamed, Cavusoglu said: “Why are you ashamed? This is the reality of the country.”