SPARK, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) based in the Netherlands, continues to reach out to students and teachers in Turkey who strive to keep education running despite schools having to close their doors to curb the COVID-19 outbreak.

Grade schools were reopened but again shut down recently following a surge in coronavirus cases in the country, but universities have remained shut throughout the outbreak. SPARK, supported by the European Union’s Madad fund, provides infrastructure support to various universities in Turkey for remote education. It provides technical support and equipment to ensure proper access to education to Gaziantep University in the eponymous southern province, Harran University in Şanlıurfa, Mustafa Kemal University in Hatay, Mersin University in the titular province and Sütçü Imam University in Kahramanmaraş. In addition, by mobilizing the expertise within universities, SPARK has organized accelerated training programs for providing online content, managing virtual classrooms and using technology.

The NGO, active in Turkey since 2015, mainly focuses on supporting Syrian refugees in the country, the host to the largest refugee community from the war-torn country, particularly students. It has also provided scholarships and support to affected students in vocational education and during the pandemic, delivered free tablet computers and provided access to the internet for thousands of students.

According to the experts, the percentage of distance education will increase gradually over the next eight to 10 years. The current model used is called "Emergency Remote Teaching."

Quoted in a written statement by SPARK, professor Alper Tolga Kumtepe, a lecturer at Anadolu University, stated that since the beginning of the outbreak, the percentage of distance education increased and will continue to increase within the next decade, not only in Turkey but the whole world. However, the professor pointed out that not every application can be called distance education: "We consider them 'Emergency Remote Teaching.' We are currently communicating remotely, but it is too early to talk about a distance education system."

Kumtepe said they have noticed that the pandemic provided a catalytic effect in the acceleration of distance education.