Termination of the contract: Compulsory Education

There are two dominant philosophical approaches in law: the Positivist School of Law and the Natural Law School. 

Since law in Turkey is essentially rooted in the Continental European Legal System, the Natural Law School is the dominant perspective. According to this understanding, a hypothetical contract lies at the foundation of law. A contract has been established between the state and the people, or between the imaginary individuals who make up the people. According to this contract, the state will protect and look after its citizens, safeguard fundamental rights and freedoms, and even provide certain social guarantees; in return, citizens will comply with the state and the laws. 

In cases where this contract is not fulfilled, the state will resort to sanctions in accordance with criminal law. The right to resist against the state will also come into play. 

According to the contract between us and the state, citizens will be educated and, at the end of this education, will join the workforce. However, this contract is now void. Neither can citizens be educated, nor can those who are educated join the workforce. 

Forget about education and instruction! Schools cannot even provide minimum hygiene conditions. Municipalities that contribute to meeting these conditions are being obstructed. Children get sick frequently, and education is disrupted. 

The state cannot provide the necessary conditions for the education it has committed to. 

Even if hygiene conditions were met, a healthy teaching-learning process is not functioning in secondary education. Moreover, this situation is not new. It has been this way since before the AKP government. Neither Turkish nor foreign language, neither mathematics nor science, neither social studies nor philosophy, neither art nor sports... Schools are places to pass time. 

The contract is suspended. It cannot be fulfilled. Our schools are merely places where children are kept so that they do not get involved in crime, can establish relationships with their peers, and parents can work in the meantime. 

The paradigm is shifting. In the coming weeks, I will address this paradigm shift in its various dimensions. This paradigm shift is far beyond the narrow debates of realpolitik. The subject is very comprehensive. 

The state's primary duties, the reasons for the existence of institutions, the institutions that provide international order, and almost every social structure and relationship, especially human relations, will be affected by this paradigm shift. 

For now, let it suffice to state that we are at a moment where the contractualist view has completely collapsed. 

The contractualist legal view, which relies on the existence of ''natural rights,'' and the social justice view, which bases every social struggle on a ''natural right,'' are facing a major challenge. 

The path for the Positivist Legal View is open. However, for years, this view could not be used as material for a progressive interpretation. We will see if the coming days will allow for this.

Modernity as we know it is ending. Against all this change, we are still trying to find a cure with old institutions. Whichever view you adopt, the Ministry of National Education's education-instruction model has collapsed. Days are near when we will not be able to ignore this reality!

We need to think about alternative ways to raise, protect, and look after our children! If there is any time left from the baseness of daily politics...