Türk Eğitim-Sen President Geylan: "We Lost 13 Years with the Free Dress Code, Teacher Appointments are Insufficient"

ANKARA - Türk Eğitim-Sen President Talip Geylan made striking statements on the education agenda in the program "Söz Hakkı" on Bengü Türk TV. Geylan stated that the free dress code, which was abolished in 2012, cost the education system 13 years, and criticized the inadequacy of teacher appointments and the injustices in the interview system.

"The Decision on Free Dress in Schools is a Loss of 13 Years"

General President Geylan evaluated the reinstatement of the school uniform practice, which was abolished in the 2012-2013 academic year on the grounds that "we will not raise uniformed people", by the Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin today on disciplinary and pedagogical grounds. Geylan reminded that as Türk Eğitim-Sen, they opposed this decision at the time on the grounds of income distribution injustice, pedagogical, disciplinary and security reasons.

According to the survey conducted by the union at the time, Geylan stated that 79.4% of educators disagreed with the view that "a uniformly dressed human model leads to uniform thinking" and that the free dress code practice led to dress competition among children and caused psychological problems. According to the results of the survey, 75.3% of the teachers stated that children's psychology would deteriorate due to inequality in income distribution, and 75.9% stated that this practice would bring additional costs to families.

Geylan also reiterated his concerns that the free dress code would create security weaknesses in schools. Stating that 84.6% of the surveyed educators supported this view, Geylan gave the message that "Reform in education should be carried out in a rational consultation process with all stakeholders."

The Situation in Teacher Appointments is Dire: "The Need Has Not Decreased, Rather Increased"

Talip Geylan criticized Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin's statement, "Since our needs have decreased, it is not possible to make appointments in the old numbers." Geylan reminded that 86 thousand 136 paid teachers were assigned in the country and the norm staff deficit was 100 thousand 541, and stated that the need for teachers did not decrease, on the contrary, it increased.

Geylan asked, "If we did not need teachers, then why were so many paid teachers assigned?" and emphasized that it is "unworthy of our state" to employ over 86 thousand paid teachers with a salary below the minimum wage. Stating that education is not an area where savings can be made, Geylan warned, "The weaknesses that will be caused by savings in education may take decades to compensate, and may even spread to generations."

Good News of Additional Appointments Before November 24th and Reaction to the Persistence of Interviews

Stating that the allocation of only 15 thousand quotas in the 2024 KPSS is insufficient, Geylan drew attention to the victimization of thousands of teachers who cannot be appointed despite getting high scores. He expressed the hopelessness of young teachers by giving an example of a Marmara University valedictorian who could not be appointed despite ranking 40th in Turkey in KPSS.

Geylan called on the President and said, "Mr. President, give the good news of additional appointments and start our young colleagues on the eve of November 24!"

Mentioning the injustices in the interview system, Geylan said, "We do not understand the reason for MoNE's persistence in the interview system," adding that a system that has been functioning properly since 2018 has been changed arbitrarily and that the discretionary right granted to commissions in interviews has led to injustices. Stating that there are 1,611 candidates who were eliminated in the interview despite being in the top 20 thousand in the 2023 KPSS, Geylan stated that this situation is a great injustice to young people.

Geylan warned, "As long as the lack of planning continues, the number of unassigned teachers will reach 1 million in a short time," and emphasized that MoNE and YÖK should plan the quotas of education faculties according to the real needs of the country.