Ministry of National Education establishes a hotline against "underground" courses

Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin stated that they have received information that students enrolled in open high schools are attending underground, unregulated courses, and that these courses are a sector managed by individuals who have been dismissed from both official and private schools, particularly in connection with FETÖ.

Minister Tekin expressed that they are in consultation with the Ministry of Interior regarding unauthorized courses for the new term and warned parents not to send their children to these courses.

The Ministry of National Education is conducting comprehensive efforts regarding courses referred to as "underground," which operate without a license from the Ministry.

To ensure that students and parents do not face any grievances, a list of private courses operating under the Ministry of National Education was published some time ago at "https://ookgm.meb.gov.tr/kurumlar.php?=kurs".

Subsequently, in a letter sent to the governorships, it was stated that, in accordance with the Regulation on Private Educational Institutions, they must include a "QR code" on their institution signs.

In this context, the Ministry has assigned a QR code identity to all private educational institutions, allowing parents to easily see whether these institutions are authorized by scanning these codes.

The QR code application includes information regarding the name of the private educational institution, institution code, type, opening date, address, address code, who the founder is, building capacity, the types of programs offered and their capacities, and fees.

In the Ministry's letter, regarding the QR code application, it was stated: "The application is important in terms of private educational institutions indicating that they are places operating under our Ministry and for those who wish to receive services from these institutions to obtain information about the institution."

SEPTEMBER 18 IS THE FINAL WARNING DATE

The Ministry of National Education will grant private educational institutions until Monday, September 18, to have signs with QR codes at the entrance of their institutions. Necessary procedures will be initiated against private educational institutions that do not fulfill their obligation by this date.

In addition to the measures, the Ministry has implemented a new practice regarding underground structures.

In a new letter dated September 1 sent by the Ministry to the provinces, it was underlined that all kinds of education and training activities in Turkey are subject to the permission and supervision of the Ministry.

It was announced that an "Unauthorized Education Activity Report" link has been created on the General Directorate of Private Educational Institutions website to utilize technological capabilities in identifying the importance of the issue and places conducting unauthorized activities.

Reports of unauthorized education activities can be made at the address "http://ookgm.meb.gov.tr/izinsizegitim.php" of the General Directorate of Private Educational Institutions.

On the other hand, monitoring and coordination commissions established by the governorships will evaluate these reports and immediately initiate examination and investigation procedures.

Processes regarding the reports made will be notified to the Ministry by the relevant governorships. These places will be closed as required by law, and those operating these places will be fined 20 times the gross minimum wage as required by law.

News Source: 12punto