Educator Atalay Girgin evaluates the problems in the Turkish Education System for 12punto: 'They want religious and vengeful generations'

Over the last 20 years, the Turkish Education System has undergone changes many times. For high school admissions, the system has been changed 6 times, including the LGS, OKS, triple SBS, single SBS, TEOG, and LGS. For university admissions, following the ÖSS, the YGS and LYS system was introduced, and finally, the YKS was brought in. There have also been seven changes in the Minister of National Education. Despite all the changes made, the problems and debates continue unabated. Educator Atalay Girgin evaluated the problems in the Turkish Education System for 12punto.com.tr.

'WHAT THE SYSTEM WANTS ARE STUDENTS WHO THINK IN ACCORDANCE WITH POLITICAL AND IDEOLOGICAL EXPECTATIONS'

First, it must be stated that education is one of the fundamental social institutions existing in every society. Especially in the context of our topic, the systematic education provided in schools is essentially a social engineering activity carried out for political and ideological purposes. Moreover, it is an activity that those who plan this education, determine its content, and decide—based on their own political, ideological, and religious beliefs—what will or will not be taught to students, and which achievements or behaviors will or will not be  instilled, ensure is carried out in line with the demands and desires of the rulers...

The lowest-level apparatus of this activity is the 'teachers.' Their job and duty is to transmit information to the child-student they encounter in school and in the classroom, based on the requirements of the systematically conducted political, ideological, and even religious social engineering, in the direction desired by someone or the system, and to educate them. If you ask today's civil servant 'teachers,' nearly 90-95 percent of them will not accept this and will say that they do not engage in politics. This is because a large portion of those who do not accept this are either unaware of their primary function and duty, or it suits them to think so. Especially if they are siding with the order and the rulers of that order, and if their consciousness has been captured by the dominant ideology pumped out to legitimize the order... However, the truth is that whether teachers accept it or not, whether they are aware of it or not, what the system wants from teachers in a society, regardless of their branch, is primarily to raise students who think, speak, and act in accordance with the political and ideological expectations of the order. Of course, as much as they can manage...   

“BUT IT IS IN VAIN, IT STILL WON'T WORK... NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO...”

However, even though the regime's apparatuses, agents, and spare tires from every lineage, every stripe, every faction, and every faith—from the ruling wing to the opposition wing—are providing all the necessary support to facilitate the work of the ruling powers, the plans made at home do not match the reality of the marketplace. Even if they calculate everything, they cannot determine everything. Because reality prevails. In the face of the judgment of reality, all calculations are ruined. All dreams are shattered. They have been hiring civil servant 'teachers' for years through interviews, as if carefully sniffing the bottom of a melon to pick it, but it doesn't work. They cooperate with communities, sects, and the Directorate of Religious Affairs, but it still doesn't work. They appoint a 'minister' with great fanfare, saying '2023 Education Vision,' but it still doesn't work. They declare to the whole world what state they are in by saying, 'We are struggling in an intellectual crisis,' and they remove the 'minister' they sat in the chair with the '2023 Education Vision Document' in his hand and replace him with another, but it still doesn't work. Instead, they sit someone to whom they gave the title of 'Rector' with a very special decree in the chair this time with the title of 'minister.' But it is in vain, it still won't work... No matter what they do... The weeds will continue to sprout and grow again despite everything... Even despite the opposition, which is trapped within the political and legal consciousness boundaries of the regime and has turned into a spare tire for the government and a filler material for its legitimacy, and the so-called education and civil servant 'teacher' 'unions' for which even the adjective 'yellow' should be considered a compliment...  “EVERYTHING FROM THE LEGISLATURE TO THE JUDICIARY AND THE EXECUTIVE HAS BEEN LEVELED TO THE GROUND”

Based on this, the answer to the question 'What should be changed in education and training?' cannot be given without taking into account the social reality being experienced in its entirety. This reality bears the mark of social disintegration and cultural decay in every field. In societies that have fallen into the vortex of social disintegration and cultural decay, all social institutions and organizations, from the legislature to the judiciary and the executive, and from the economy to politics and religion, get their share of this. Turkish society is one of them. And everything from the legislature to the judiciary and the executive has been leveled to the ground before everyone's eyes. Social disintegration and cultural decay, which manifests itself as an erosion of moral values and corruption in every field, have engulfed all social institutions and organizations, especially the government and the opposition, from top to bottom, turning them into almost a swamp. This includes education. Even the Republic has only its name left. Those who see the phrase

“Republic of Turkey” on the signs look at them and experience the illusion that it exists. However, having the name of something or pronouncing it does not prove that the thing exists as a real thing. “WHAT TURKEY NEEDS IS A NEW SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT”

The problems in the Turkish education system are not independent of the general state of the country. The system is being redesigned to serve a specific ideological goal, which is the creation of a 'religious and vengeful generation.' This is not a new project, but it has been accelerated and deepened under the current administration. The education system has been turned into a tool for social engineering, and this is why all attempts to 'fix' it within the current framework are doomed to fail. What is needed is not a cosmetic change, but a fundamental transformation that addresses the root causes of the social and cultural crisis.

When we consider this existing reality, education in general, and systematic education in schools in particular—which is one of the fundamental social institutions—cannot be thought of independently from other social institutions such as the economy, politics, legislation, the judiciary, religion, etc. Everything that can be done or proposed in education and training must be in parallel and harmony with the others. What the Turkish society needs under today's conditions is a 'New Social Construction Project,' of which education, like all other social institutions, is an inseparable part. In terms of our subject, what conditions the necessary actions in the field of education and training is the answer to the question: 'What kind of society, what kind of human being do we want?' or 'What kind of human being, what kind of society do we want?'

'THEY WANT A SOCIETY COMPOSED OF RELIGIOUS AND VENGEFUL PEOPLE'

The answer given to this question by the government was announced to the whole world years ago by the most authoritative, and indeed the only, authority, and it is known: ' Religious and vengeful generations...' In other words, they want a society composed of religious and vengeful people. They have been working heart and soul for this for years. However, the opposition, which is primarily confined to the political and legal consciousness boundaries of the order and is mobilized to fortify and sustain this disintegrating order that is rotting with all its social institutions and organizations, has no answer... I wonder why?

While this is the case and the government's answer to the question 'What kind of human being, what kind of society?' is being executed in line with the society they desire, every proposal and change made or that can be made in education and training goes no further than being palliative and serving this purpose. Think about it, the ' Montessori Method,' which is praised to the skies in education is even being used today to raise people in accordance with the desires of this order... Naturally, for their own children, whom they intend to raise as potential future leaders in the society they desire...

Therefore, the question of what suggestions can or should be made regarding education and training under current conditions cannot be reduced solely to teaching methods, teacher training, whether or not to abolish interviews, or areas like 'scientific, secular, democratic education' that some people keep repeating. This is because education and training must be evaluated as a fundamental element of a 'New Social Construction Project' and is an area that needs to be reorganized from top to bottom, along with other fundamental social institutions. Otherwise, everything done will serve no purpose other than reproducing what already exists. Just like the 'Montessori Method'...