Minister Tekin's first statement on the dress code scandal at a high school graduation

At the graduation ceremony held in the courtyard of Alaettin Kurt Anatolian High School in Gebze, Kocaeli, some female students were denied entry to the area on the grounds that they were "wearing clothes that did not comply with the dress code."

While students and their families reacted to the school administration, a gendarmerie team was dispatched to the area.

With the arrival of Gebze District Director of National Education Şener Doğan at the school, all students were able to attend the graduation ceremony.

Following the incident, the Kocaeli Governor's Office announced that two education inspectors had been assigned to the case.

STATEMENT FROM MINISTER TEKIN

As the scandal remains a hot topic in Turkey, a statement came from Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin.

Responding to questions on a live broadcast on Habertürk, Tekin said, “Criticize us, that's fine, but what fault do our teachers have? For 180 working days, these people selflessly take care of children that you and we, as parents, cannot find time for at home. Because of a simple incident... Let us be a little more sensitive in order to protect the rights of all our teacher colleagues. If we haven't solved it, let them criticize us, but the efforts of those colleagues have been wasted.”

"OUR PRINCIPAL MADE A PERFECTLY LOGICAL START"

“Now, our school principal made a perfectly logical start. He asked the parents, 'We are organizing a graduation program, who will attend along with the students?'” said Tekin, adding, “He received an attendance list. The discussion that started with 'we will take you if there is space left' for those not on the list evolved into another dimension. Negative images appeared on screens and social media. I felt sorry for my teacher colleagues. The incident was already resolved in a short time anyway,” he said.

"THE PROBLEM WAS ALREADY SOLVED"

Tekin continued as follows:

“The work of our teacher during the process does not make the agenda. An incident that occurred in one of the 76 thousand schools is being turned into something that will cast suspicion on the entire community. I want positive things to be shared with the public and negative things to be shared with us. Our district and provincial directors intervened immediately there, and the problem was already solved. Our school principal lost control at the beginning. We are already having the necessary investigations carried out. If there is negligence, the necessary people will be punished. If there is no negligence, a lot of people are being cast under suspicion.”

Minister Tekin's first statement on the dress code scandal at a high school graduationhttps://t.co/GWRoci6834 pic.twitter.com/a5ZcpbRbYU

— 12punto (@12puntocomtr) June 13, 2024

Other statements made by Minister Tekin during the live broadcast are as follows...

"WE WERE CRITICIZED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT SKILL-ORIENTED"

Turkey has reached a point where it has become a country that has its own systematic approach in every field and possesses parameters suitable for the criteria of the age. As we set out, we produce an international model by taking into account contemporary developments, international data, and our own values, just like other developed countries.

What we are doing was already a construction process by removing the criticisms directed at us in international reports regarding education in Turkey. In reports like those from the OECD, the focus of the criticisms directed at us was that education was not skill-oriented. We need to revise our curriculum.

There was criticism that our system was too heavy in evaluations based on the number of achievements of the countries we can compete with. We were definitely overloading it. We live in an easy world regarding the acquisition of information. When I was a high school student in the 1980s, we would wait at the provincial public library to do our teachers' homework. We would go inside and find the relevant volume from the encyclopedias. We would wait for another student. We would reach it and get a photocopy. Our children access the information that we perhaps did in a few days in 5 minutes from computers and mobile phones.

"WE HAVE REDUCED OUR INFORMATION LOAD"

In the 1980s and 90s, there was a problem with access to higher education. Now, access to higher education has also become very easy. There are over 8 million students receiving higher education, including open education. Reducing the part related to information and leaving it to later processes.

When we look at international comparisons of our children's learning levels, we removed a portion because it is more accurate in the coming periods. We have reduced our information load. We reduced it by approximately 35 percent. There is a high rate of reduction in some courses and less in others.

The acquisition of our own values, the Republic, and the values that make society a nation by our children was also a task expected of us. We need to increase our national consciousness. Therefore, we need to produce a model by incorporating our own values in the light of international indicators. We have put forward such a model called the Century of Turkey Education Model. In the coming days, there will be developments we foresee regarding information and communication technology. Developments that arise with the spread of artificial intelligence applications. Currently, we have tried to place our 12+1 programs within this calendar.

"I WANT TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF LAICITY"

The claim that the History of Atatürk's Principles and Reforms has been reduced. We did not make any changes there. We did not make any changes to the weekly course hours. The expression 'they reduced its hours' is, so to speak, a criticism made by rote without reading. The Ottoman and Turkish history part is already in our programs. If it is repeated, the same unit is repeated in different grade groups. We went for a presentation-delay in chronology. We tried to do this; we tried to create this bridge that there is a continuity between the Republic and the Ottoman Empire. We want our children to own their history, their values, and their ancestors, and to respect them.

The disagreement between us and those who make the criticism regarding laicity is here. There is a difference between the definition of laicity of those people and the laicity I define, as far as I understand. I taught courses on laicity and democracy for many years at universities.

I want to act in accordance with universal principles of laicity. The people I mentioned were making the definition of laicity from February 28. It is not possible for me to meet with those people in the same framework. Just as international texts and conventions define laicity, our definition is the same. If it is said in the curriculum that this information contradicts this subject in the context of international conventions and human rights protection mechanisms, we are ready to correct it.

"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO AGREE WITH THE CRITICISMS"

Did we teach social sciences in the mathematics course? Did we put social sciences into biology? It is impossible. How could we have given weight to social sciences? If there is criticism that they differentiated and enriched the content, it can be discussed. But it is not possible for me to agree with the criticisms that they increased the number of social sciences courses. We did not do anything regarding the weekly schedules. Increasing or decreasing the weekly course hours of any course affects the Ministry's human resource needs. This criticism is also not very consistent, if they don't mind me saying so.

IS THE SYSTEM CHANGING TOO OFTEN?

If the answer to the question of whether the system is changing is the transition between levels, that is, the discussion about how a student moving from 8th to 9th grade will register or continue to higher education is a technical discussion, not a discussion about the essence of the system. We expect criticism regarding the curriculum such as 'the world is in a mess, there were wars to our right and left, we survived a plague like Covid, we experienced the disaster of the century, why don't you put these in'.

We reduced the load on our children. Our teacher, who has 3 hours of lessons per week, says 'This lesson is not enough, our programs are heavy'. We gave them 5 hours a week, we gave them 5 hours, the weekly lesson became 60-70. When they cannot give it, a perception of failure arises. Why should we allow our teachers to face unfair criticism? Are they uncomfortable with us taking this load off our children and our teachers?

"WE WANT TO RAISE A VIRTUOUS GENERATION"

Are you uncomfortable because we said we give the history of the Turks and the past of the state to our children as a whole? We say we want to raise a compassionate, virtuous generation, are you uncomfortable with that? I don't understand why they are uncomfortable.

We made a program change. It is said, 'You were not open to democratic participation during the preparation process'. This is my favorite criticism. I will talk about 2 attitudes. One is 'I will do something, I haven't started yet, come on, let's start together'. The second attitude is 'I did it, come on, let's discuss it'.

Which one is more democratic? I chose the first attitude. I said, 'Come on, let's do it together'. Whoever will contribute to me. It could be a political party, NGO, university, academics. Come on, let's do it together. Since the beginning of June 2023, in every broadcast I attended, in the media, on social media, we said 'come on'. I thank the friends who came. But you are not there, I continued. I gave a date. I wanted to trigger this participation process. I gave another date. They didn't come, then when we announced it on April 26, it was said 'This time is insufficient, not now, extend it, implement it next year'. This is not well-intentioned.

"WE RECEIVED EVERYONE'S CONTRIBUTION"

It is said, 'You prepared a text with so many pages, so many words, how will I read this?' I don't want one person to read this. Let our friend interested in mathematics read mathematics. Average 100-150 pages. We gave you a 150-page text. Saying 'I cannot evaluate this in 1 week, give me a year' is not very consistent. We received the contribution of everyone who wanted to contribute. We made the program for 26 courses, others are continuing. I am calling for the courses for which we have not made the program; come on, let's do it together.

SPOKE ABOUT APPOINTMENTS

When the mechanism regarding the oral exam is completed, after it is finished, there are mechanisms regarding the 657. There is a security investigation calendar. The moment it ends, we will make their appointments and add them to our family. We will have received our answers from the relevant units regarding 20 thousand people. We desire to catch up for the new academic year. If we cannot catch up, we will continue from where we caught up.

APPOINTMENT OF DISABLED TEACHERS

As you know, the process regarding the appointment of our disabled friends is carried out by the Ministry of Family and Social Services. They divide the number of staff given to them among the ministries. They will also make an allocation to us. When that process is completed, we will announce the appointment process regarding our disabled friends. We are waiting for a number from there.

"I DO NOT FIND THE SHADOW CABINET COMPARISON CORRECT"

Access to higher education in Turkey has become significantly easier. We have now reached international norms in terms of students per teacher. The number of unappointed teachers has grown very large. We want to include as many of our friends as possible within the budget framework every year. I meet with representatives of different political parties and members of parliament who request an appointment from me.

We are meeting with CHP deputies. I do not find the shadow cabinet comparison correct. Whenever the relevant friends request an appointment from me, I always give an appointment. The opposition needs to be careful. Such policies do not benefit, they harm, by showing off on social media.

Let them come, let's talk. If there is an issue that I am not making an effort to solve, if you protest it in the square, it is not very meaningful. I am saying this outside of developments related to politics. As you know, we had a parliamentary system before. Therefore, ministers were chosen from parliamentarians. The communication of our deputies with ministers was easy with the system where the legislative and executive branches were intertwined. Now we have a government system where the legislative and executive branches are separated by sharp lines. We don't have much opportunity to meet with our deputy friends in parliament. We need to continue this communication with our friends in the legislative body in different environments. I give appointments to everyone.

"THE INTERVIEW IS DEFINITELY NECESSARY"

I brought these discussions to the agenda in a program I did with another friend on your channel. This is what I desire. Between professions, in terms of measuring the qualifications required by the profession. I see teaching as the most sacred profession.

Therefore, I want this; I want there to be a teaching staff that our 86 million citizens will entrust their children to with confidence when they entrust them to us. I want them to be the best. The parent registers their child, chooses the teacher at school. While he has the right to choose himself, when I say I want to choose my teacher, I think this profession has a different position compared to other professions.

We need to create a measurement and evaluation process. There should be no question marks in people's minds regarding justice and trust. I see the oral exam, the interview, as a necessity. Many universities have professors give a trial lecture when employing them. Even private schools conduct interviews when employing teachers. What harm can there be when I do this in the public sector? My answer to those who say if you conduct the interview in a fair, transparent, and reliable way; I will establish such a system that no one will express criticism that injustice was done in this system.

"WE ALSO CODED THE MEMBERS"

We said let's not examine a mathematics teacher from the bottomless ocean of mathematics. If you are going to be a high school mathematics teacher, let's say 9th or 10th grade, we said we would ask you questions from the mathematics curriculum. We limited the universe first of all. We said we would not put anything in front of the jury member that would reveal your personal information. It will go in front of the jury with a code.

The jury will not be aware of who they are taking for the oral exam. We also coded the jury members. The members of the commission that will conduct the exam also have a code. A system that no one can interfere with.

When our candidate comes to the environment where the jury committee is located, we will ask them to choose a question from the computer screen. A topic will appear in front of them. We will say, how would you explain this topic? With the text we sent to our candidate friends, we say, 'jury members expect you to use these techniques while explaining this'. We tried to gather the juries of the same branch in the same provinces as much as possible.

"THE NATION'S CHILDREN ARE ENTRUSTED TO US"

If our teacher friend in the hall says 'I object', they will sign under the question-answer sheet we gave them, saying 'this question was asked to me and I gave these answers'. Our camera that records video and audio will already be working.

No one will be able to come out and say 'I said these things but they did an injustice'. One last precaution. So that they don't say 'I took the exam, after I came out I saw the juries, I looked and they were acquaintances'. Jury members will enter their grades independently of each other, and after saying 'save', they will no longer have the right to access that paper. The nation's children are entrusted to us.

I say I will conduct the interview in a fair, transparent, and reliable way so that no one's rights are violated. We have made the objection mechanisms transparent.

TEACHING PROFESSION LAW

The Teaching Profession Law, I think, will come to the commission after the holiday. After that, the general assembly process. I don't know the Parliament's calendar right now. Our desire is, before the date period defined for us by the cancellation decision given by the Constitutional Court expires, we have a little more time regarding the things that were cancelled. If it becomes law before the TBMM goes on holiday, there will be no problem for us.

WILL VIOLENCE AGAINST TEACHERS END?

We designed the equivalent of the violence against healthcare workers carried out by our Ministry of Health for teachers. We put it in the law. We took measures in terms of deterrence against violence, and we also took sanctions for the increase of the sentences received by those who commit violence and for them not to be postponed. I believe that these measures will not be sufficient on their own. We, as the ministry, had taken the measures.

Let me say it as an example. Last summer, we had a very large number of measures in the circular. One of them was that we introduced the procedure for our parents to make an appointment to meet with teachers in our schools. I think this significantly prevents incidents of violence. Of course, I exclude those.

I am saying this for those who show examples of vandalism. Parents who commit violence against their child's classmate. Parents who want to punish someone else's child based on what the child tells them. We were facing practices that psychologically crush and offend the teacher. We established a parent appointment system. We started different training programs to raise awareness among parents. Short films will be put into effect. We are working with our parents. I also tell my teacher friends. Taking these measures is our job, if we react as one body as the teaching community, if we lock onto each other in terms of preventing violence on the spot, only then can the measures be successful. We had started to implement security cameras in our schools, raising awareness of parents, and the parent appointment system.

"WE FORESEE IT AS IN-SERVICE TRAINING"

We will have trained our teacher candidates, whom we train in-service, in the academy. We will have appointed them as teachers. After failing in the academy, we will not have made the teacher appointment. The academy also reveals the need for our teachers to be aware of the fast process regarding education. The academy will be a place where our teacher friends can be aware of innovations. We foresee it entirely as in-service training.

SITUATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR TEACHERS

Ultimately, a private school is a commercial enterprise in terms of logic. They make calculations based on their own inputs and outputs there. Turkey, like the rest of the world, has experienced a process in the last few years where different issues have come to the agenda economically. Schools remained closed during the pandemic.

It points to the fact that private schools have narrowed economically in a sense. We are discussing this with private schools, I have to protect the rights of your teachers. While doing this, within the period, schools start to receive students at the beginning of each calendar year in the sector. In May, contracts are signed with teachers according to the student potential they receive.

When we talked last summer, they said they had signed contracts with the teachers. We, as the Ministry, will implement the mechanism where their rights will be protected in this sense. But you will also protect the teachers. We agreed in a sense. They said 'we will keep the promise we made to you'. We will be close followers of this. We are also talking to teacher friends working in private schools. We are saying that their problems will be solved. But we are saying that it is not possible for them to impose a solution proposal on us. Private schools are making their contracts now. Now we will test whether they are applying the limits they committed to us.

WILL THE HEYBELIADA SEMINARY BE OPENED?

The Seminary is a political issue, I cannot decide. If our President wants us to do work, we are tasked with reporting to him. I visited the Seminary, we met with the representatives. They came twice. Personally, I think it is important for Turkey's international power. I think it would be right in terms of democracy and laicity. My personal opinion. Ultimately, whatever political decision is made, we will implement it. Currently, we will prepare a summary from the date it was established in 1844 until the date it was closed regarding this. We will have this discussion on whether it can be opened legally, whether it will be opened or not.

"THE POSTS AROUSE DISCOMFORT IN PARENTS"

Many of our teachers post with good intentions. The posts of some of our teachers arouse discomfort in parents. We are sending letters stating that they should make posts by taking into account the rights and legislation of parents and students, and that they should not act otherwise.

HOW IS THE "GRADE REPETITION" STEP WORKING?

We are following it. The relevant friends are monitoring the mechanism. Such measures needed to be taken in terms of disciplining the education process. If we are not going to do this, education has no meaning. Our teacher friends are left in a difficult situation. It was also a strong demand from our teacher friends.

HOW WILL STUDENTS SPEND THEIR SUMMER HOLIDAYS?

We have had an education period where the sacrifices of our teacher friends were at the highest level, truly from my perspective. I thank them all. The profession is truly a difficult profession. Our friends do their jobs under difficult conditions. They have already shared what they will do for the students during the summer holiday. Holidays, just like the education period, are part of the education process in a pedagogical sense.

Things that will prevent them from losing their gains at school. By reading books, by seeing historical, natural, and cultural riches. We think that the education process will be more efficient when they rest. The audiences we need to give advice to are the parents.

I say this to parents; our parents compare our education processes and the success of our students with the students of other countries. Please let them compare themselves with the parents of other countries. What are they doing to be an example, what are our parents doing?

Whatever those parents are doing in terms of mobile phones, computers, and reading books, let ours do the same. On this occasion, I thank our teacher friends.

I congratulate everyone on their Eid al-Adha. I am a fanatical football fan. The excitement starts on Saturday. I wish our national team success in the European Football Championship. I am very hopeful, the young generation. I hope they do beautiful things that will multiply our holiday joy. I wish them success as well.

News Source: 12punto

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