Children from impoverished rural regions succeed in Turkish high school entrance exam again

Children from impoverished rural regions in Turkey have once again succeeded in the national high school entrance exam despite living under difficult conditions compared to their peers in the country's west. 

A high number of students scored all of the questions correctly in the Transition from Primary to Secondary Education (TEOG) exam carried out on April 27 and 28.

Similar to previous years, children from these impoverished regions, who don't have the financial privileges to pay for private lessons and who have to work outside school time, presented major successes in the exam.

Even though they revised for the exam while working in fields or shepherding, they managed to shine among 1,185,328 students who sat TEOG thanks to their endless ambitions. 

One such example is Habib Bitkin, 14, from the Çemişgezek district of the eastern province of Tunceli. Bitkin prepared for the exam while herding sheep in order to help his family make a living. He answered 119 out of the 120 questions correctly. 

Saying that he wanted to become a scientist, Habib noted that he was studying while taking sheep out on grass. 

"Our living conditions are very tough, but I never gave up. I made it," Habib said, adding that he was made fun of when he said his ambition was to become a biotechnology expert in the future because of the conditions he lived in. 

Another student who succeeded in the exam was Eda Beytaş from the Varto district of the eastern province of Muş. Having answered all questions correctly, Beytaş said she was herding sheep in her free time in order to support her family. 

"My aim is to become an interior architect," Beytaş said. 

Elsewhere, Sinan Bozkan from the Viranşehir district of the...