First 6 articles of the Teaching Profession Law proposal accepted

According to the articles accepted in the General Assembly, the proposal regulates the selection, training, appointment, rights, duties and responsibilities, awards and penalties, career advancement of teachers who carry out education and training services, and other matters related to the teaching profession, as well as the establishment, duties, organizational structure, and personnel of the National Education Academy.

The AKP submitted a motion regarding the 5th article of the law proposal, which regulates the rights, duties, and responsibilities of teachers.

According to the accepted motion, it was stated that teachers will raise their students as virtuous individuals who are committed to Atatürk's principles and reforms and the Atatürk nationalism expressed in the Constitution; who adopt, protect, and develop the national, moral, humanitarian, spiritual, and cultural values of the Turkish nation; who love and always strive to exalt their family, country, and nation; and who know and have internalized their duties and responsibilities toward the Republic of Turkey, a democratic, secular, and social state of law based on human rights and the fundamental principles in the preamble of the Constitution.

Teachers will take into account the learning styles, interests, and talents of students and respect their personal rights, and will strive to protect students from all kinds of negative words, attitudes, and behaviors in the education and training environment.

Teachers will be responsible for attending classes, keeping watch, taking part in centralized or local examinations, participating in boards and commissions, ceremonies and meetings, events and club activities organized for students, carrying out student guidance services, coordinating training that requires practice, and carrying out other work and procedures related to education and training processes.

Except for matters clearly defined in the legislation and in cases of state of emergency, general disaster, and epidemic diseases, teachers will not be assigned to work and activities unrelated to their profession without their consent.

The proposal also regulates the duties and responsibilities of administrators.

The procedures and principles regarding the rights, duties, and responsibilities of teachers, as well as their other duties in education and training processes, will be determined by a regulation to be issued by the Ministry according to school types and levels, as well as matters regarding the duties and responsibilities of administrators.

FROM THE NEGOTIATIONS

DEM Party Şırnak Deputy Ayşegül Doğan claimed that expert opinions were not taken while the proposal was being prepared and asked, "How is it possible to defend this proposal, which has previously been returned by the Constitutional Court?"

Saadet Party Istanbul Deputy Mustafa Kaya claimed that the answer to the question "How can we train a better teacher" could not be found in the law proposal and said, "The Ministry of National Education is trying to achieve results with an assessment parallel to its own ministerial status by establishing a National Education Academy."

Kaya claimed that the education faculties were also being hollowed out with the law proposal and stated, "The most important problem in national education today is the lack of system and planning. Every incoming minister deals with the exam system and curriculum in different ways. If the one who comes after rejects the legacy of the past and tries to find a new path, this is called lack of planning and lack of foresight."

CHP İzmir Deputy Gökçe Gökçen Göl stated that the proposal did not provide any solution to the problems of private school teachers and said, "There is no solution to the problems of paid and contract teachers either. According to the proposal, one of the teachers entering the same class is paid, one is permanent, one is an expert, one is a head teacher, and the other is a candidate teacher who cannot enter the class."

Arguing that education is an area that should be regulated according to the constitution, Göl said that education cannot be done by regulation and is an area that cannot be left to the executive, and that it is a subject above parties and politics.

İYİ Party Bursa Deputy Yüksel Selçuk Türkoğlu evaluated the proposal as follows: "A teacher does not beg, does not bow down, does not hold out their hand. A teacher gives lessons. No teacher with a free mind and conscience adopts or wants this law proposal. None of our teachers and unions working in public institutions and state schools, numbering over 1 million, like or want this draft law, because it does not provide a remedy for any of their problems. Who wants this law? For whose benefit? Have we solved all the problems of national education, and is this all that is left? One purpose of this law is the imposition regarding the teacher academy. It is a law prepared to keep teachers under more control."

Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) Istanbul Deputy Saliha Sera Kadıgil argued that when the AK Party came to power, 1.8 out of every 100 schools were private schools, whereas in 20 years, 10 out of every 100 schools have turned into private schools, and that the education system has been surrendered to capital.

DEVA Party Mersin Deputy Mehmet Emin Ekmen asked the questions, "While there are uninterrupted and long-term ministers in ministries with large budgets, such as the Ministry of Transport, Energy, and Health, why is the total ministerial term of a minister in the Ministry of National Education 2.2 years? Why is the total ministerial term of a minister in the Ministry of Culture 2.4 years?"

Ekmen asked why young people are moving away from values during a period of government that produces so much politics based on localism, nationalism, and religious and national elements.

WARNING TO DEPUTIES

In the General Assembly, TBMM Deputy Speaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder issued a warning after DEM Party Mersin Deputy Perihan Koca Doğan filmed AK Party deputies with her mobile phone during the roll call.

Stating that what is legitimate is the image provided inside via the monitor, Önder said, "Every deputy can film the speaker at the podium or the Presidential Council while they are speaking. Other than that, filming a deputy or a group without their consent is not the right approach."

TBMM Deputy Speaker Önder adjourned the session after the 6th article of the proposal was accepted. After the break, as the commission did not take its place, Önder closed the session to reconvene at 14:00.