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

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

. 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 secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognisin ...

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 a ...

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 ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

and

Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greeks, Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest Ethnolinguistic group, ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming al ...

in December 1963. The School was established as a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

in a rented house in the Köşklüçiftlik area and later extended to a ruined

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

with four

classroom A classroom, schoolroom or lecture room 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 place ...

s. The school was primarily set up as an English-medium school 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. 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 (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

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 Qizilbash or Kizilbash (Latin script: ) ; ; (modern Iranian reading: ); were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman "The Qizilbash, composed mainly of Turkman tribesmen, were the military force introduced by the conquering ...

. After 1991 the

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

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 that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

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. H ...

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 p ...

, Member of Parliament *

Serdar Denktaş Serdar Denktaş (born 1959) is son of Rauf Denktaş, the former President of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comp ...

, Member of Parliament,

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', ' p ...

for Finance, former Deputy Prime Minister, former Acting

* Özdil Nami, Member of Parliament,

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, Mayor of North Nicosia, former

* Hasan Taçoy, Member of Parliament, former

* Mustafa Djamgoz, professor of cancer biology at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

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

Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu (born 17 August 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 ...

, former Member of Parliament, former

* Raif Denktaş, composer, journalist, academician, former Member of Parliament, former Political Adviser to the President * Neşe Yaşın, poet and author * Suat Günsel, founder of

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

* Hussein Chalayan, recipient of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, fashion designer and two-times winner of the British Designer of the Year award

Sister schools

* Pertevniyal High School * 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