By Nuri Aden
At the heart of one of the historic decisions taken by Türkiye after the failed coup attempt by the terrorist group FETO on July 15, 2016, were the dreams of millions of children in Africa waiting to be salvaged from the spiral of subversive ideology propagated by the outfit.
FETO's hydra-headed network, including schools run by the group as part of its terrorist subterfuge, had been chipping away at the foundations of education in Africa since the 1990s when Türkiye's darkest night in recent political history led to a reformist move to reclaim the future of generations across the continent.
Responding to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call, with the mutual agreements between it and African countries, the non-profit Turkish-owned Maarif Foundation took over in 2016 a total of 118 schools that used to be run by shadowy group FETO in 16 African countries.
Children who needed to be rescued from FETO's terrorist doctrine ranged from preschool to secondary level. The complex transition was made possible through a history of cooperation between Türkiye and a cluster of friendly African nations.
It's been seven years since the Turkish government initiated this action, enabling millions of children in Africa to continue their education without FETO’s political brainwashing and turning the Maarif Foundation into a catalyst helping cement relations between Türkiye and African countries.
Using a special statute passed by the Turkish National Assembly, the Maarif foundation—whose name is derived from the Ottoman-Turkish word for education or the Arabic word for knowledge or wisdom—was founded as a non-profit educational foundation on June 17, 2016.
Government trust
Over the years, the Maarif has become a pillar for the development of Africa through education, using its expertise to design a quality curriculum and providing training aligned with the specific needs of each country it operates in.
However, with one major distinction from the terrorist organization FETO, the foundation offers students education in core subjects such as science, mathematics, and social sciences, equipping them with the necessary skills to face future challenges, without ideologically encoding youth for their own political agendas.
Somalia had been the first country to hand to Maarif over seven schools previously owned by the FETO organisation, reflecting the government's trust in the foundation.
In Tanzania, Maarif is recognised for its contribution to the education sector by running more than 10 schools with approximately 2,000 students.
Maarif schools have also been shining out with their unique identity building curriculum that focuses on the African cultures, including various African languages alongside Turkish.
Every year, more than 1,000 students from Africa arrive in Türkiye to pursue higher education through the Turkish government scholarship programmes.
Cultural ties
Maarif, a government-led institution, has gained fame for its capacity to design the best curricula and provide the right training that corresponds with the genuine needs of each nation since it serves to provide students with quality education in science, mathematics, and social sciences, in order to properly equip them with profound tools to deal contemporary malicious ideologies prevalent in the world today.
Aiming to raise upright students, Maarif Institute has continued its educational efforts in 447 educational facilities throughout 51 countries, where it also operates vocational training schools.
The Maarif Foundation has garnered prominence in Tanzania for its contributions to the education sector, which include managing more than 10 schools with over 2,000 students.
It has introduced students to both the cultures of Türkiye and Africa as well as other world languages and the Turkish language.
The Maarif foundation has substantially aided in boosting children's education and talents by financing free studies for children from developing nations with extraordinary talents through close collaboration, particularly with the ministries of education in the countries where they operate.
Giving youngsters with limited talents the opportunity to improve themselves through this action is one approach to do so.
Turkish government advocates a more equitable world shorn of the generally narrow-minded perception of Africa as a continent far removed from the rest.
In this regard Maarif Foundation aims to widen accessibility of contemporary education standards to the entire world.
This brings Maarif Foundation also to the forefront with its nonprofit nature and open agenda unlike the FETO schools that run shadowy businesses all around the world.
Türkiye has made contributions to "higher education" on a worldwide scale that cannot be overlooked over the past seven years.
According to Prof. Birol Akgun, president of the Maarif Education Institute in Türkiye, Maarif Foundation also contributes to cultural links between Türkiye and Africa.
Top honours
In order to address the demands of the African community and support complex economic, military, and political interactions with Türkiye, he highlighted that the foundation aspires to carry out the wishes of the people of the continent.
"We are working very hard to build relationships. The degree of industrial growth and educational attainment in Türkiye serves as a model for other African nations.
In Togo, the Maarif foundation has also established the Maarif Sports Complex, with the aim of establishing protocols regarding cooperation with sports clubs from the Turkish Soccer League, sports colleges and universities with sports science faculty, exchange of experience, technical support, organize different sports activities to enhance cooperation.
"We are making great efforts to be part of relationships. Türkiye's infrastructure is a model for African countries for the level it reached in the field of industrial development and education." Prof. Birol Akgun said.
Numerous accolades have also been given to Maarif schools. Maarif received top honours from the Djibouti Ministry of Education for the 2018–19 school year.
In the 73-team maiden robotics tournament of the 2019 Lego Arabia league, held in Jordan by the Center for Excellence in Education and the AI Society of Arab Robotics, Tunisian students from the Maarif School of Robotics took home a special award from the judges.
In December 2022, the prize for the best biology program and the project for "Comparison of Hydroponic and Soil Plant Growth" went to Maarif Turkish School in Zanzibar.
Maheen Masoud, a high school student at Pak-Turk Maarif School in the Pakistani district of Lahore, won the "O-Level Board" Mathematics competition in June 2021.
Scholarship impact
In addition, Maarif Schools of Niger won the Health, Hygiene and Good Education Award, besting a number of other institutions. Maarif collaborates with Turkish universities to offer students higher education.
Up until this point, institutions in Türkiye have graduated roughly ten thousand African pupils.
The scholarship opportunity initiative has helped almost 15,000 students. These figures demonstrate the growing closeness and friendship between Türkiye and Africa on a daily basis.
"We will strengthen our bonds of brotherhood and sincerity with the nations of Africa."
President Erdogan made this statement at the Istanbul meeting on collaboration between Türkiye and Africa in 2021.
“It's true that the accomplishments of the Turkish Education through the Maarif Schools and the collaboration of the Turkish education industry are reasons for pride and serve to further improve relations and a better future between Africa and Türkiye.” Prof. Birol Akgun said.
