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Students turn their backs on school principal, Provincial Director of National Education argues with parents: Protest at Istanbul High School

At the graduation ceremony of Istanbul High School, one of Istanbul's most deep-rooted educational institutions, students protested school principal Hikmet Konar by turning their backs on him. Students who took the stage for the ceremony turned their backs while wearing their robes and began singing the school anthem. Konar finished his speech amidst whistling and booing.

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The protests did not stop when it came time for the students to be presented with their diplomas and certificates of achievement during the tense ceremony. According to a report by Oda TV, immediately after the top student of the class was presented with their award and diploma, the school principal, unable to endure the protests any longer, made a controversial decision.

Taking the microphone from the podium, the principal unilaterally canceled the graduation by saying, "The ceremony is over. Pack everything up!" The students started their own ceremony in the school garden after the microphones were dismantled. Organizing an alternative ceremony, the graduates received their symbolic diplomas not from the school administration, but from their classmates, held them up, and took commemorative photos with their families.

The graduation, which was cut short by the principal leaving the area, ended with the unwavering stance of the young people.

Provincial Director of National Education wagged his finger at parents

Istanbul Provincial Director of National Education Murat Mücahit Yentür, who attended the ceremony, was met with the reaction of angry parents waiting in the garden. While an argument broke out between Yentür and the families, the Provincial Director of National Education wagged his finger at the parents. The school principal said, "I want to conclude my words with a prayer made to me by my teacher who graduated in 1947," and then tried to continue his speech.

However, the principal's words could not be understood amidst the booing, applause, and protests.

The same protest happened 10 years ago

A protest that made it onto the national agenda also took place at Istanbul High School 10 years ago, where students had also protested the principal, who had been appointed to the school a year prior, by turning their backs on him.

That period was also significant in terms of the Ministry of National Education (MEB) beginning to appoint school principals itself. The legal regulation that gave the MEB the right to select certain schools to become "Project Schools" and to appoint their teachers and principals without exams was enacted through the Decree Law No. 652, known as the private tutoring centers law. The law gave the MEB the authority to appoint teachers and administrators to Project Schools directly by the minister, rather than through exams.