Robert College Alumni Association of America

News and Announcements

John R. Chandler refutes media allegations & reminds RC's non-discriminatory policy on disability

Recent news about the Foreign Schools apparently banning handicapped students from taking the new Foreign Schools Entrance Examination and, by extension, that the foreign schools have a policy of not accepting handicapped children, are fictitious. A statement has been prepared by the Examination Committee to correct this serious mistake, and has been sent to both the Ministry and to the media as a press release.

Dear Parents, Graduates and Friends:

Many of you have doubtless read or heard about the recent news about the Foreign Schools apparently banning handicapped students from taking the new Foreign Schools Entrance Examination and, by extension, that the foreign schools have a policy of not accepting handicapped children. This appeared in Monday's Hürriyet, as well as in Cumhuriyet over the weekend. The language of the Hürriyet article, in particular, was extremely embarassing to all of the foreign schools.

Let me begin simply by saying that no part of this news is true. The new exam is open to all, and none of the schools has any policy that discriminates against children with handicaps.

This situation has come about because an announcement was wrongly made by the Chair of the Examination Committee. It was ill-advised at best, and in direct violation of established laws at worst, and it was made without the knowledge of any of the foreign schools or any members of the Examination Committee. Robert College would never have supported such a decision.

A statement has been prepared by the Examination Committee to correct this serious mistake, and has been sent to both the Ministry and to the media as a press release.

From my point of view, RC has been embarassed, as have all the other foreign schools. Please be sure that we would never be party to any such a policy.

John R. Chandler

Headmaster

March 24, 2009