The award ceremony of the ‘City-Child-Traffic: Join Hands for Safe Travel!’ drawing competition for elementary school students was held. The competition was organised in support of the social responsibility projects led under Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Urban Research and Development Center (EMU-URDC) and was granted permission by the TRNC Ministry of Education. The award ceremony was held on January 17th 2019, Thursday (10:00) at Atatürk Cultural Centre with the participation of the ranking students and their families.
During her opening speech, Ministry of Education, Head of Primary Education Department İlkşen Varoğlu Atik underlined the importance of this cooperatively held event and thanked EMU for its contributions. Atik touched upon the importance and effects of traffic education in preventing accidents. She stated that such education is given in elementary schools and congratulated the ranking students.
In her speech, Vice Rector for Administrative and Technical Affairs and URDC Executive Board Member Prof. Dr. Naciye Doratlı expressed her happiness in being part of this social responsibility project and stated that she was pleased with the keenness of participation. Prof. Dr. Doratlı noted that EMU is a pioneering institution not only in education, but also with its social responsibility projects. She continued by thanking all who contributed to the event.
After Prof. Dr. Naciye Doratlı, Board of Trustees President Advt. Boysan Bora took the floor and continued: “Social responsibility is an important point and, EMU provides all the support at its disposal”. Stating that penalties and education are the two key elements for remedying social problems, Boyra also noted that despite the aggravated penalties, the traffic violations have not yet been efficiently prevented. Boyra mentioned that if this project was able to raise even a small amount of awareness, this should be regarded as a gain for all.
The goal of the drawing competition, held in memory of children and adolescents lost to traffic accidents, was to raise awareness on the subject by focusing on urban traffic safety. 1170 students from 19 schools competed at this contest that aimed to draw attention to the traffic issue; one of the most problematic environment issues of our day. The works of the students were evaluated on January 7th 2019, Monday by EMU Faculty of Architecture faculty member Prof. Dr. Mukaddes Polay, EMU-URDC Vice-President Asst. Prof. Dr. Nevter Zafer Cömert, EMU-URDC Board Member Asst. Prof. Dr. Müge Rıza, Artist Zehra Şonya, Artist Nilgün Güney; and Artist and Art Teacher Simge Uygur. The awards were presented to the winners: First Place to Meryem Göğebakan (Eastern Mediterranean Doğa Elementary School), Second Place to Nilsu Sibel Akansoy (Eastern Mediterranean Doğa Elementary School), Third Place to Enes Akkuş (Karşıyaka Merkez Elementary School) and Third Place to Berk Kavazlar (Eastern Mediterranean Doğa Elementary School), Honourable Mention to Nesil Göçener (Eastern Mediterranean Doğa Elementary School), Honourable Mention to Nurten Açelya Yardımcı (Near East Elementary School), Honourable Mention to Arta Turan Kaya (Yeniboğaziçi Elementary School) and Honourable Mention to Hayrun Nisa İkinci (Yeniboğaziçi Elementary School). The attendees saw the exhibited works after the opening speeches and the presentation of the awards. The exhibition will also be displayed at EMU during the ‘TRAFFIC WEEK’ during May 7 – 13, 2019.
