Back to school, one province at a time across Türkiye

As the 2026-2027 academic year officially began on Sept. 14, 2026, schools across Türkiye welcomed millions of students back to their classrooms, and the following scenes from eight different provinces capture how the first day unfolded from the Bulgarian border to the mountains of the southeast.

In the northwestern provinces of Kirklareli and Edirne, both bordering Greece and Bulgaria, students arrived at their schools. At 75. Yil Primary School in Edirne in particular, pupils, teachers and parents gathered together before the students moved on to their classrooms once the opening ceremonies had concluded.

In the central Anatolian province of Nigde, students, teachers and parents at Necip Fazil Kisakurek Primary School experienced the excitement of the first day of school from the early morning hours onward.

In the neighboring province of Nevsehir, a similar scene played out at 20 Temmuz Primary School, where students, teachers, and parents shared their excitement for the new term.

In Kayseri, roughly 295,000 students returned to 1,157 schools for the new academic year, and among them were the students of Mehmet Soysarac Middle School, who began their new term alongside their peers across the province.

In Tokat, students at Cumhuriyet Primary School also started their new academic year on the same day as the rest of the country, joining the broader wave of first-day ceremonies held throughout the province.

In the far southeastern province of Hakkari, students, teachers and parents at Cumhuriyet Primary and Middle School marked the start of the new term from the morning hours onward, with the first bell ringing at roughly 9:00 a.m. local time.

In Bolu, approximately 52,723 students across 242 schools began the new academic year, including the students of Sehit Ozan Ozen Middle School, who joined classmates throughout the province in celebrating the first day back.