Eğitim Sen alleges gun and knife found at school in Bayraklı: Call for safe schools

The Eğitim Sen İzmir No. 2 Branch issued a written statement following reports that a student was found with a knife and a gun in their bag at the Şehit Uğur Sarıkaya Middle School in the Bayraklı district of İzmir.

The union stated that the incident, which reportedly occurred on September 30, has once again brought the issue of school safety to the forefront. The statement noted that recent news of armed attacks in schools across various provinces and reports of students bringing weapons or similar items to school are deeply concerning.

This incident once again reveals how critical the security problems in our schools have become. Schools must be public spaces where children are present with a sense of safety rather than fear, where education workers perform their duties without fearing for their lives, and where scientific and democratic education is maintained.

The statement argued that violence in schools cannot be prevented solely by increasing the number of security guards or installing checkpoints at school entrances. Eğitim Sen emphasized that while urgent security measures must be taken, the social, economic, psychological, and educational conditions that give rise to violence must be addressed together for a permanent solution.

The statement, which also cited unregulated individual armament, the ease of access to weapons, children's exposure to violent environments, and the inadequacy of guidance services as causes of the problem, noted that school safety cannot be left solely to the responsibility of education workers or school administrations.

The union called on all relevant public institutions, primarily the Ministry of National Education, to take responsibility, stating that an educational environment must be created where children can learn without fear and education workers can work without concerns for their personal safety.