Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin was the guest of the TRT News live broadcast with five teachers who participated in the programs in Ankara and Istanbul within the framework of Teachers' Day events.

 

Announcing that the events they organized for teachers from 81 provinces will continue, Minister Yusuf Tekin thanked all institutions and organizations especially President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for their support in these events.

 

Minister Tekin stated that for the first time this year, within the framework of the 24 November Teachers' Day events, a teacher from each district who made a difference in their respective places of duty was invited, and announced that they would organize a symposium titled Education on the 100th Anniversary of the Republic through the Eyes of Teachers" in December.

 

Stating that the news of exemplary teachers should be brought to the fore in the media, Tekin emphasized that there are more than 1 million 200 thousand teachers in public, official and private institutions. Stating that there are minor misunderstandings that they try to tolerate from time to time and that they try to take precautions against them, Minister Tekin underlined that a single teacher does not represent the community of 1 million 200 thousand people. 

 

Noting that they watched the movie "Aybüke: I Became a Teacher", which premiered on the evening of November 23, together with President Erdoğan and the family of the martyr Aybüke teacher , "I was the undersecretary when both Teacher Necmettin Yılmaz and Teacher Aybüke were martyred. When Necmettin Teacher was kidnapped, we were constantly on the phone with his family until we received the news of his martyrdom. We were also in constant communication with our intelligence organizations and security units regarding his health and location," said Minister Tekin. Thanking dozens of martyred teachers, such as Teacher Aybüke, Teacher Necmettin and whose names cannot be listed, Minister Tekin commemorated July 15 martyr Teacher Yusuf Elitaş, and the teachers lost their lives in the earthquake with blessings and gratitude.

 

Making a statement regarding the Constitutional Court's annulment of some articles of the Teaching Profession Law, the Minister said that the Teaching Profession Law came into force last year. Stating that the Constitutional Court annulled some articles and gave the Ministry time to make regulations on the canceled issues related to the Law within 9 months, Minister Tekin said that he thinks a new Teaching Profession Law can be made in line with the suggestions of teachers, stakeholders, unions and political parties.

 

Noting that 58 thousand 967 teachers applied for the Teaching Career Steps written exam for the specialist teacher title and 3 thousand 921 teachers for the position of head teacher, the Minister said the results of the exam which has 99.4 percent of participation were announced.

 

Stating that they come together with teachers under the name of "Teachers' Room Meetings" on the first Saturday of every month, Minister Tekin said that depending on the capacity of the meeting hall, the average participation is around 250 teachers. Stressing that they give everyone the right to speak about their projects and thoughts about the education system, the Minister explained that teachers record what they talk about in group meetings and raise these during the meetings.

 

Speaking about the system that requires getting at least 70 points from the Turkish course, Minister Tekin stated that these practices are made to improve children's capacity to express themselves in their native language. Stating that it is not possible for a child who speaks his native language with 100 words to speak a foreign language with 500 words, Minister Tekin underlined that our children's native language skills must be developed in order for all educational processes, including foreign language education, to be successful.

 

Stating that the second semester mid-term break will coincide with the Ramadan holiday. Tekin emphasized all the practices they implement are evaluated by the department operating within the directorate general of education. Mentioning a survey is being conducted regarding the mid-term holidays. The Minister said that they will evaluate the data provided by the Monitoring and Evaluation unit regarding the mid-term breaks and make a decision about the mid-term breaks.

 

Minister Tekin explained that President Erdoğan is very sensitive about the schools in the earthquake zone. Underlining that they have been working since he took office, the Minister expressed that they started the education and training process without any problems as of September 11 and built around 2 thousand 500 new classrooms within the budget opportunities allocated to them. "We have overhauled around 45 thousand classrooms. When the 2024-2025 school year begins, we aim to reach the classroom capacity before February 6, "said Minister Tekin.

 

Reminding that 45 thousand new teachers were appointed as of the beginning of September, Minister Tekin said that with the additional appointments of around 4 thousand made through EKPSS, the total number of teachers approached 50 thousand. Announcing that they will determine the number to be assigned to the Ministry of National Education in coordination with the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, after the 2024 budget is approved by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Minister said that they will make a fair and lawful branch distribution based on the percentage distributions in the staff capacity given to the Ministry.