Eğitim-İş President’s call to teachers and parents regarding ÇEDES: "Do not allow it, they can never do these things!"

A new scandal has been added to the ÇEDES (I Am Sensitive to My Environment, I Protect My Values) project, a joint initiative of the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Presidency of Religious Affairs. According to a report by Birgün, students at a school in Isparta were given knives and taught how to ‘slaughter a sacrificial animal.’ Furthermore, just a few days ago, a model grave was set up at the Kars Central Imam Hatip Secondary School to cover the topic of ‘patience,’ and footage of a student wailing over the model grave sparked public outcry.

“IT IS VIRTUALLY A PEDAGOGICAL MURDER”

Speaking to 12punto about these events, Eğitim-İş Union General President Kadem Özbay described ÇEDES as the Ministry opening schools to religious sects and communities, allowing individuals with no qualifications and unclear agendas to meet with children, and likened the practices to ‘pedagogical murder.’

Stating that schools are under de facto occupation and a complete reactionary siege, Özbay noted that political Islam is being imposed on children under the guise of ‘religious, moral, or values education.’

“WHAT IS DESIRED; OBEDIENT, NON-QUESTIONING GENERATIONS!”

Eğitim-İş President Kadem Özbay continued as follows:

“Their goal is to raise a generation that follows their religion and their grudges in the way they define it. It is not even true piety, but rather raising a religious and obedient generation; a generation that can cover up what they have done and destroyed. Instead of free citizens of the Republic, they want the obedient, non-questioning generations that the AKP desires!..”

‘Imposing a religion and its practices as understood by the political power will lead to the formation of thoughts in the child's mind that they cannot make sense of, and due to these impositions that they cannot relate to developmentally, it will lead to fears that will affect their future life, an increase in stress and anxiety, and the development of psychological problems,’ said Özbay,

“Due to their developmental characteristics, expecting children in the early childhood period to understand these phenomena and concepts, and even to act according to certain religious rules, does not align with the goals of the general education approach.

It is diametrically opposed to secular, scientific education! It is contrary to the Constitution, universal human rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child! It is a violation of constitutional and universal human rights, and it is a crime!” he stated.

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS TO WHICH TURKEY IS A PARTY…

Reminding that international conventions to which Turkey is a party state that the child's freedom of religion and belief must be guaranteed and that children must be protected against religious impositions, Özbay warned, “Impositions regarding belief, as in the past, lead to social tensions and divisions. It harms the culture of living together and the common ideal of the Republic.”

“WE MUST PROTECT OUR CHILDREN AND SECULAR, SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION”

Calling on teachers and parents, Kadem Özbay said, “They can never enter your classroom, they can never take students out of class! Parents must closely monitor their children! They can never engage in any activity with their children without their permission! As Eğitim-İş, we stand by our educators and parents. We stand with them with our organized power against any pressure they may face. We must bravely protect our children and secular, scientific education.”