Today is November 24th. “Teachers” Day“ is celebrated on this date every year in Turkey. However, after the 1980 coup d'état, this date, unlike the World Teachers” Day on October 5, was chosen on the day Atatürk received the title of "Head Teacher of National Schools". Ostensibly a day of respect and commemoration, in reality it was a symbolic choice aimed at erasing the real problems of teachers from the agenda. The date squeezed teachers into an ideological framework and rendered the social diversity of the profession invisible.
After the September 12, 1980 coup d'état, Law No. 1402 suspended thousands of teachers from their jobs and unfairly dismissed them from their duties. This practice not only created individual victimization but also built the education system on fear and obedience. The teachers suspended at that time went down in history as education workers who advocated critical thinking and demanded free and scientific education. The labor, courage and resistance of these teachers should still be remembered today.
Today, the teaching profession and the education system in Turkey still face serious problems:
- Ideological orientation in education: The curriculum is shaped according to a particular belief and party line, rather than science and critical thinking. Teachers who defend secular and scientific education are under pressure.
- Imam Hatip schools and the disintegration of the system: There is a serious bifurcation in education. While Imam Hatip schools provide ideological education, the resources of other schools are shrinking. Closed village schools should be reopened, transportation problems should be solved and food should be provided for students.
- Personal rights and job security: Salaries are not above the poverty line. Contracted and paid teachers work without security of tenure. The difference between private and public sector teachers should be eliminated and a minimum teacher salary should be set.
- Unassigned teachers: Struggling with unemployment and uncertainty; political favoritism instead of merit.
- Academic freedom and universities: Academic staff are open to political pressure. Contracted academics are precarious, ideology and nepotism are at the forefront.
- Professional development: Teachers should be provided with an annual allowance for their knowledge and experience.
- Trade union rights: The rights to collective bargaining, strike and trade union activity must be guaranteed.
In every town there is a teacher who shines a light and a priest who tries to extinguish this light... This metaphor summarizes the struggle for the freedom and independence of education in Turkey. The teacher brings critical reason, free thought and social responsibility to his/her students. Repression and ideological interventions try to extinguish this light. However, the real teacher does not take orders, but teaches wisdom; he does not fear, but questions. Education should be a field that nurtures free thought and social responsibility, not a system that makes individuals obedient.
Solution proposals for teachers and education system:
- The professional law should be reorganized in a merit-based, politically independent and egalitarian manner.
- A permanent solution must be found for unassigned teachers; contract and paid teaching must be abolished and permanent employment must be ensured.
- Equality of opportunity in education should be ensured; differences between school types should be eliminated, closed village schools should be reopened, and food should be provided for students.
- Salaries and personal rights should be improved; additional courses, preparation and transfer processes should be made transparent.
- Annual allowances should be provided for teachers' professional development.
- Appointment and transfer practices must be merit-based and transparent; intimidation policies must end.
- Academic freedom and university autonomy must be ensured; contracted academics must be guaranteed.
- Trade union rights must be guaranteed.
- Based on the spirit of the Village Institutes, an approach to education that is oriented towards social benefit and critical thinking should be adopted.
- Psychological and social support mechanisms should be established and protection against mobbing and violence should be provided.
To value teachers is to value the future. They shape not only children, but how a society thinks, questions and lives. The real Teachers' Day should be the day when teachers are honored for their rights, freedoms and professional dignity.
Today is November 24; the day of teachers whose value has not been recognized, whose voices have been suppressed, but who still resist. Greetings to Fakir Baykurt, Hasan Ali Yücel, İsmail Hakkı Tonguç, Metin Lokumcu, Teacher Aybüke, all the education workers from the village institutes and the brave teachers who were suspended from their duties with Law No. 1402.
“95.5 percent of teachers struggle to meet their family's food needs ... 83 percent of teachers have a negative balance on their salary card every month ... 77.7 percent say they cannot afford to pay for their own children's education.’
Education has moved away from secularism and science. Free education is now almost impossible. In a system where teachers of different statuses are not gathered under one roof with permanent staff, a real professional law is needed. Every teacher should be permanent; the lowest salary should start at the poverty line.