Eğitim-İş President Kadem Özbay reacts to 'project school' appointments: 'We are hearing reports that religious sects are influential in the assignments'
Eğitim-İş General President Kadem Özbay has issued a statement regarding teachers who have been separated from their institutions and students due to the latest appointments under the AKP's 'project school' program. Evaluating the appointments for 12punto, Özbay stated, We are receiving reports that pro-government unions, provincial and district officials from the ruling political party, and religious sects are influential in these appointments.
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Launched in 2014 as an AKP project, the 'Project School' initiative saw some of Turkey's most prestigious schools—such as Kadıköy Anadolu, Kabataş Erkek, Pertevniyal, and Cağaloğlu Anadolu High School, which serve students in the top 1 percent of academic success—brought under the project school scope overnight.
Teachers working in schools under the project school scope submitted their preferences about a month ago. The results were announced at the beginning of the week. However, the teachers were met with what can only be described as a shock. Most teachers had listed their own schools as their first choice to continue their work, but they were either assigned to other schools or left without any assignment at all.
Following the appointment results, high schools rose in protest. In many schools, students expressed their reactions through sit-in protests and class boycotts. Eğitim-İş General President Kadem Özbay shared his evaluations regarding the scandalous appointments with 12punto.
"Teachers must be assigned in a timely and transparent manner. Education is not a tool for personal advancement; it is the most sacred right of the public," said Özbay, adding the following:
"This is our open call: Stop segregating schools, teachers, and students by labeling them as 'qualified' or 'unqualified.' Put an immediate end to these practices that undermine equality in education. The practice carried out under the name of 'project schools' has brought arbitrariness, favoritism, nepotism, and injustice to teacher appointments. In a system without objective criteria, merit disappears, and success based on hard work and knowledge is ignored. Our educational institutions cannot be left to the authority of religious communities, sects, or political groups."
'MAKE MERIT, NOT NEPOTISM, THE STANDARD'
Appointments should be based on the educator's experience, academic success, and competence in education, not on pro-government unions or political connections. Today, many of our teachers who hold master's or doctoral degrees, have been rewarded with certificates of achievement, and have served in the same school for years are not being appointed to project schools, and the appointments of these teachers have been canceled. This is unacceptable. It is unclear what criteria were used for these appointments. It must be explained to the public in a transparent manner and made subject to oversight. Our open call to the Ministry of National Education (MEB) is: End the 'project school' distinction immediately. Create a single, transparent appointment regulation that applies to all schools. Make merit, not nepotism, the standard. Teachers must be assigned in a timely and transparent manner. Education is not a tool for personal advancement; it is the most sacred right of the public.
As Eğitim-İş, we say that as teachers who uphold the values of the Republic, secularism, science, and labor, we will continue our legal and organizational struggle with determination. We will stand against any approach that makes education reactionary or distances it from scientific principles. We will defend the rights of every teacher and the future of every student. The Ministry of National Education is carrying out appointments arbitrarily in 2,300 schools under the name of 'project schools.' Currently, there are 2,300 project schools in Turkey, with over 79,000 teachers and over 5,000 administrators working in them. While nearly 500,000 teachers could potentially choose these schools, appointments to them have been left entirely to the approval of the ministry at the center."
'WE ARE HEARING REPORTS THAT RELIGIOUS SECTS ARE INFLUENTIAL IN THE ASSIGNMENTS'
Drawing attention to the lack of clear criteria in the appointments, Özbay also shared the reports reaching them. "We are receiving reports that pro-government unions, provincial and district officials from the ruling political party, and religious sects are influential in these appointments," said Özbay, continuing his remarks:
"Today, thousands of our teachers have been left without any justification, their appointments to their schools have not been made arbitrarily, and they are now facing a situation where they may be effectively exiled to a place very far from their living areas. The substance of many of Turkey's deep-rooted schools has been hollowed out. For example, at Atatürk Anadolu High School in İzmir, more than 60 out of 90 teachers were victimized because they were not reappointed. The teachers at that school, who were recognized by many as being part of the school's culture and were truly important figures in the school's educational environment, are now forced to prepare to leave that school. There is no longer any transparent, auditable, or accountable method in this. We see that among our teachers are those with 30 years of experience, who have served in the same school for years, who hold doctorates or master's degrees, and who have no disciplinary record. The Ministry of National Education is acting as if it owns the schools. These schools have effectively been occupied. We are receiving reports that pro-government unions, provincial and district officials from the ruling political party, and religious sects are influential in the appointments to these places.
Even though there are vacant positions in many of our provinces, we see that despite teachers making their preferences and school administrations approving these preferences, the ministry does not grant approval. The MEB wants to make appointments to project schools that are acceptable to them."