Türk Maarif Koleji (), commonly referred to as Kolej, is a selective secondary education institute in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

. Access to the school is only open to students with top score in a nationwide entrance exam. It is an English-medium school. The school is famous with their highly successful academic programme, consecutively receiving national and international awards. The school is also very successful in sports, musical competitions and science olympiads. The school follows the English curriculum, preparing students for the

International General Certificate of Secondary Education The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based examination similar to GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainm ...

and the

GCE Advanced Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

examinations. However, students are allowed to follow the Turkish curriculum from Year 10 if they choose to prepare for Yükseköğretim Kurumları Sınavı. All students receive Devlet Lise Diploması (State Lycee Diploma) following their graduation.

History

The school was founded on 27 January 1964 by Hasan Nevzat and two teachers Behzat Gürsel and Mahmut İslamoğlu all teaching members at the English School, which had remained in the Greek Cypriot controlled side after intercommunal fighting between

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

and

Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

in December 1963. The School was established as a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in a rented house in the

Köşklüçiftlik Köşklüçiftlik is a quarter of North Nicosia in Northern Cyprus. In 2011, it had a population of 2,939. Cityscape It is bordered by the Pedieos River in the west, the Kumsal Park separating it from Kumsal in the north, the Green Line in the ...

area and later extended to a ruined

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

with four

classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

s. The school was primarily set up as an

English-medium school An English-medium education system is one that uses English language, English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students. Initially this is associated with the expansion of English f ...

modelled on the English School, preparing students for the UK GCE examinations. It was then called Kösklüçiftlik İngiliz Okulu (Kösklüçiftlik English School). Eventually, the school moved to the Victoria Girls High School building near the Atatürk Square, and then transferred to the old Commercial Lycee next to the

Haydarpasha Mosque Haydar Pasha Mosque ( gr, Χαϊντάρ-πασά τζαμί ''Chaintár-pasa Tzamí'', tr, Haydarpaşa Camii), formerly St. Catherine's Church, is a historic mosque in North Nicosia. It is the most important Gothic building in Nicosia after A ...

. In 1968, it was turned over to the Turkish Education Office and its name was changed to the İngiliz Koleji (English College). Until the year of 1973 the school did not award a diploma to its graduates. Due to the changes made in the entrance to Turkish universities, the school's name was changed once again to Türk Maarif Koleji (Turkish Educational College) in 1973, and the school was authorised to award

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

s to its graduates. The school moved to its present location in 1974 which was previously used by an old Greek Cypriot High School, Gymnasio Neapolis in

Kizilbash Trachonas ( el, Τράχωνας; tr, Kızılay or ) is a northern suburb of Nicosia, Cyprus. ''De facto'', it is under the control of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cypru ...

. After 1991 the

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

portion (first, second, and third forms) moved to another building (as a separate school, Bayraktar Turk Maarif Koleji, leaving the high school portion (fourth, fifth and sixth forms). In

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

2009-2010 the secondary school moved back onto the main premises at Okullar Yolu Street, which remains the current location of the school.

Head teachers

Mr. Hasan Nevzat (1964–1967) - Deceased
Mr. Selim Inan (1967–1969)
Mr. Sacit Nereli (1969 - March 1980)
Mr. Vural Aşıcıoğlu (March 1980 - Sept 1980) (Acting Headmaster)
Mr. Şinasi Tekman (Sept 1980 - March 1990) - Deceased
Mr. Recai Deren (March 1990 - June 1990)
Mr. Erdogan Şensoy (1990–1993)
Mrs. Emine Beton (1993–2001)
Mr. Fehmi Tokay (2001–2020) Mrs. Candan Kortay (2020-current)

Athletics

Türk Maarif Koleji has a highly successful athletics programme. Even though the school does not offer any athletic scholarships, the varsity teams earn top national ranks in multiple disciplines.

2016-2017 national honours

''only teamwise top three results are listed'' * First place in high school girls' chess * First place in high school mixed chess * First place in high school boys' swimming * First place in high school girls' table tennis * First place in high school boys' tennis * First place in secondary school girls' chess * First place in secondary school mixed chess * First place in secondary school boys' futsal * First place in secondary school boys' table tennis * First place in secondary school boys' tennis * Second place in high school boys' basketball * Second place in high school boys' judo * Second place in high school girls' swimming * Second place in secondary school girls' table tennis * Second place in secondary school girls' tennis * Third place in secondary school boys' basketball * Third place in high school girls' cross country running * Third place in secondary school boys' swimming * Third place in secondary school girls' swimming

Notable alumni

Tufan Erhürman Tufan Erhürman (born 1970) is a Turkish Cypriot academic, lawyer, diplomat and a former Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus. A scholar in public law by profession, he served in the negotiations to solve the Cyprus dispute between 2008 and 2010. He ...

Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic. The president is head of state and the prime minister head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive pow ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Serdar Denktaş Serdar Denktaş is son of Rauf Denktaş, the former President of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. He was the Minister of Finance of Northern Cyprus from April 2016 to May 2019. His previous portfolios include Labour, Settlement ...

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

for Finance, former Deputy Prime Minister, former Acting

* Özdil Nami,

for Economy and Energy, former Chief Negotiator * Raşit Pertev, poet, author, former Chief Negotiator, former

, former Secretary General of World Federation of Farmers, former Undersecretary for the Office of the President *

Mehmet Harmancı Mehmet Harmancı, (born 1977) is the current mayor of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality, the local government of the Turkish Cypriot capital North Nicosia. He was born in Nicosia. He studied international relations in the Eastern Mediterranean Univ ...

, Mayor of North Nicosia, former

Hasan Taçoy Hasan Taçoy (born 1963) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the Minister of Public Works and Transport between 2009 and 2010 and between 2014 and 2015. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1986, studying economics and politic ...

, former

Mustafa Djamgoz Prof. Mustafa Bilgin Ali Djamgoz ( tr, Mustafa Bilgin Ali Camgöz) (born in 1952, Nicosia, Cyprus) is Professor of cancer biology at Imperial College London and chairman of the College of Medicine’s Science Council. Biography Djamgoz was born ...

, professor of cancer biology at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, Chairman of the College of Medicine's Science Council *

Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu (born 1953) is a Turkish Cypriot politician. He served as a member of the Assembly of the Republic representing the Lefkoşa District between 1998 and 2018. During this time, he was a member of the National Unity Party (UBP) ...

, former

Raif Denktaş Raif Denktaş (also known as Raif Rauf Denktaş) (January 26, 1951 – December 26, 1985) was a Turkish Cypriot composer, politician, academic, journalist and writer. He died after a controversial car accident where his car collided with a militar ...

, composer, journalist, academician, former

, former Political Adviser to the President *

Neşe Yaşın Neşe Yaşın (born February 12, 1959), is a Turkish Cypriot poet and author. Early life Neşe Yaşın was born in Nicosia to Turkish-Cypriot parents. Her father is the accomplished poet and author Özker Yaşın and she is the sister of the awa ...

, poet and author *

Suat Günsel Suat İrfan Günsel (born 3 August 1952) is a Turkish Cypriot property developer, businessman and founder and 100% owner of Cyprus's private Near East University. In 2011, Forbes ranked him as the second richest person in Cyprus and the 1,140th ...

, founder of

Near East University Near East University (NEU; tr, Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as YDÜ) is a private university located in North Cyprus. It was founded in North Nicosia in 1988, by Suat Günsel, a Turkish Cypriot who is the 100% owner of NEU. ...

Hussein Chalayan Hussein Chalayan, (; tr, Hüseyin Çağlayan ; born 12 August 1970) is a British-Cypriot fashion designer. He has won the British Designer of the Year twice (in 1999 and 2000) and was awarded the MBE in 2006. Chalayan is currently teaching a ...

, recipient of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, fashion designer and two-times winner of the

British Designer of the Year The Fashion Awards, known as the British Fashion Awards until 2016, is an annual ceremony established in the United Kingdom in 1989 to showcase both British and international individuals and businesses who have made the most outstanding contribu ...

award

Sister schools

Pertevniyal High School Pertevniyal High School of Istanbul was founded in 1872 by Pertevniyal Sultan, the mother of Sultan Abdulaziz. It cost 3520 gold coins to build the school. The school was forced to relocate after the fire of 1911, which destroyed much of downtown ...

* Yeşilköy 50th Year Anatolian High School

References

External links

Turk Maarif Koleji Official Web Page

Turk Maarif Koleji Education, Science and Culture Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turk Maarif Koleji Schools in Northern Cyprus Organisations based in Northern Cyprus Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in Cyprus Buildings and structures in North Nicosia