Minister Avcı who was a guest at the “Editor’s Desk” of the Anatolian News Agency made important statements ranging from  High School Placement Exams (TEOG) to the employment of prep school teachers and from appointment of teachers to the rotation system that is being applied to teachers.

No teachers’ appointments in April

Recalling that the Parliament authorized the Ministry of National Education to appoint 47 thousand new teachers said the list of the staffs at schools are being prepared according to the budget constraints of the Ministry. 

Minister Avcı said there are expectations that in April 10 to 15 thousand teachers or at least three thousand teachers who have not been able to secure the necessary points required to be appointed to a school will be given postings. The Minister said in 2014 teachers was appointed at two different occasions. The Minister said in these appointments some teachers could not score sufficient amount  of points to be appointed. “Let us say an candidate who won 100 points was appointed and you have only 98 points. There are 250 people who have scored between 98 to 100 points. You are telling me to appoint those 250 teachers so that you too can be appointed in the process. So what about the people just below you? There is no end to this.“

Avcı said if teachers are appointed in April this would mean they would start work in May and added “well we are already entering the summer recess in June. So why should we appoint someone when there is only a month left to the end of the school year? So the appointments will be made in July. There are thousands of people preparing for the Public Personnel Selection Exams (KPSS). There are thousands of new candidate teachers who will graduate this year. They are waiting to be graduated, then take the KPSS exams and then apply for a post. If you appoint people now all you are saying is  “sorry, we will first recruit those who got low marks in the previous exam and then you will have to wait a year to be appointed.”

It is more just to appoint people after the KPSS

Minister Avcı said in the social networking sites fro time to time you come across messages saying “I have bene waiting for 8 years to be appointed. I was not appointed. Let them wait another year.” The Minister said this is a very selfish approach and added “that is why the right thing to do is to hold the KPSS in July and then have the teaching area exams and then do the appointments in August according to the needs of the Ministry. Minister Avcı said justice will be served if the appointments are made in August.  

“We are not acting in a populist manner in appointing teachers”

Regarding the appointment of teachers Minister Avcı said they are hearing the argument that “we are already approaching elections” and added “we never delay the necessary decisions on the appointment of teachers or on any other vital economic issues just because we are on the eve of parliamentary elections. We always boasted of not acting in a populist manner. We said we will not adopt an elections economy and we didn’t.”  

Opposition approach is one of indifference

Minister Avcı said the opposition is using election arguments and added “the man comes up and says ‘there are 300 thousand candidates awaiting appointment as teachers. We will come to power and appoint all of them as teachers.’ What can you say to such a statement?    

Minister Avcı said promising a bonus pension during the two Eid festivities at the elections campaign “the man comes up with a statement in total indifference that is completely irrational” and went on to say:

“(I will appoint 300 thousand teachers). This is a shame. This is to poke fun and undermine the intelligence of the candidate teachers. We do not have 300 thousand approved state positions for teachers. Under the most ideal conditions when we have day long tuition, when classes are for 30 students maximum the maximum number of teachers we can recruit is 115 thousand 983. That is all that is necessary. Then of course they also have to tell us how many teachers are needed for each branch. When you make such a promise you have to know about the needs for the number of teachers at each branch. They are simply undermining the intelligence of the teaching community.”

The word “teachers who cannot be appointed” should be corrected 

Saying the word “teachers who cannot be appointed” should be corrected Minister Avcı said “you are not a teacher who could not be appointed. You are just a candidate to be a teacher who has entered the exam and could not score the necessary points to win and be appointed.”

Minister Avcı said the number of teachers to be appointed in August will be determined after the numbers of teachers that retire in July become apparent and the branches where vacancies occur are known.   

Rotation every 8 years

Minister Avcı also disclosed the details of the changes that are planned in the Regulation on Appointment of Teachers, Change of Position and Placement. 

Minister Avcı said he knows the reasons for the rotation of the teachers well and yet there is a notion among the public that “teachers will be tossed around against their will” and said there are bottlenecks especially in some districts, townships and schools of major cities

Saying there is a gentlemen’s agreement between the Turkish Armed Forces and the Ministry of National Education Minister Avcı said until a certain rank the Armed Forces is subjected to the arrangements of the Ministry of National Education and aftera  certain military rank the Ministry of National Education is subjected to the arrangements of the Military. He said, however, that despite this application there are still bottlenecks in some districts of Ankara and that there are teachers who have been serving in the same school for 20 years.

Saying young teachers who come to the bid cities from other parts of the country also want to serve in these schools Minister Avcı went on to say:

“But our schools are completely jammed up. Contrary to this there are vacancies in other places. With a new study we will start with 12 years. Teachers who have served 12 years or more will be required to move to other schools in the province. Then we will reduce this to 11 years, then to 10 years, then to 9 years and then to 8 years. So after four years we will then have a set rule that no teacher will stay at a school for more than 8 years. This we will have a circulation of teachers and the bottlenecks will never occur again.

Minister Avcı said serving in a school for 20 to 25 years also reduces productivity for a teacher in the professional sense.

Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia will have priority in appointments

Minister Avcı said the Ministry will give priority to appointing teachers to the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolian schools and added “if we have appointed 50 thousand teachers out of this we have appointed 35 thousand to 29 provinces in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. Regarding filling capacity in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia we are doing very well. But of course the quality differences and inequality between schools is also in other areas and not on the number of teachers.”

Minister Avcı pointed out to the criticism that “yes, you are earmarking the lions share of the appointment of teachers to Eastern and Southeastern Turkey but you are sending mostly inexperienced teachers to the these regions” and added “this is a valid criticism. That is why we need a grand rotation. Saying this rotation is not done out of necessity. Minister Avcı went on to say “because we have assessments according to regions and scores are taken accordingly. Sıo what should we do? We should not take measures to force people to serve. We should offer incentives and encourage experienced teachers to go to disadvantaged areas. You can’t do anything by force. You need incentives. We have seen that such incentives have worked for the police, for the medical personnel. So we are working on material and moral measures to encourage our experienced teachers to serve in these regions.”

Prep School teachers will not have to work 6 years to be appointed

Asked about the work at the Ministry on the appointment of private prep school teachers who have been on the official payroll for six years who are to be appointed to state jobs Minister Avcı said “the law says those who have worked continuously for six years may apply for state jobs. If a person has worked on the official payroll on and off but has been on the official payroll for a total of six years they will be able to apply for a state job.”

He said the Ministry and the owners of Private Prep Schools are at odds over the number of teachers qualified for such jobs and for this they are now studying the records of the State Social Security Establishment.

A period of transformation, not shutting down

Minister Avcı said until now various figures are being offered about the number of prep school teachers that will apply to become teachers of the Ministry of National Education and added “I do not believe these teachers will want to join us as teachers because their schools are not being closed down but they are being transformed from prep schools to proper schools.”

Saying the prep schools will be transformed into new educational facilities that will require more teachers, tutors, assistant personnel and added that the Ministry foresees that the teachers at the prep schools will not leave but the teachers who have not been appointed by the Ministry of National Education may opt for these private schools. “The teachers at prep schools know how to apply and they know well the technical issues but they too will be subjected to exams and they too will be appointed to various schools throughout the country in places according to vacancies in various brances. They may say ‘I worked in a prep school in Bebek (İstanbul). I have been on the official payroll for 6 years. So now appoint me to a state school at Bebek. Asking for something and getting it are two separate issues. But that is now how things work. They will be appointed to a post where we need them in Turkey.

No change in the 4+4+4 sstem

Asked about claims that the four year primary school, four year secondary school and four year high school compulsory education system (4+4+4) will change Minister Avcı said there is no such thing and that the 4+4+4 syste has settled.  

He said there are no plans to change the system and that the 4+4+4 application is progressing well and added that the Ministry is aware of the rumors that one of four will become three and the other four will become five years but added that these are all wrong and part of a massive disinformation campaign that is targeting the Ministry of Education. There are malicious news reports that are trying to create the impression that things are not going well at the ministry that the system has collapsed, that the system has changed and that the system has turned into a scrap board. When they cannot slander us they start fabricating news. I think these claims are part of that fabrication.” Minister Avcı said such things have never been debated or discussed.

University entrance exams 

Asked about plans to hold university entrance exams more than once a year the Minister said the Supreme Council of Science and technology used to meet every two or three years in the past but under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the council is now meeting every year.

Minister Avcı said the meetings are continuing on a regular basis under Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and said three years ago the Science and Technology Council decided to start work on a more rational university entrance system with the contibutions of TUBİTAK, the Higher University Board, the University Entrance Center and the Ministry of National Education. So when I say this it will be an injustice to say the university entrance system is being categorically changed and the old system is being scrapped. No, we are working on what kind of improvements we can make to make the system for just, more rational. Debates and research are being made. However, our students should not fear that the system will change overnight and the final year students at high schools will be landed with a surprise. Before any change the schools, the students and the parents will be well informed in phases. There will be no surprises. Students will not be caught off guard.

2 thousand 9 prep schools applied as of March 30

Asked how many of the 3 thousand 460 private prep schools applied to be trabnsformed into private schools the minister said the applications were made in phaseds as of June 2 last year.

He said in the first phase 327, in the second phase 240 and in the 3rdand 4th phases 182 and 885 prep schools applied and thus in the first term 1 thousand 634 prep schools entered the program to be transformed into private schools. On the fifth phase 375 prep schools applied and concluded that as of March 30 a total of 2 thousand nine prep schools have applied to the Ministry of National Education to be transformed into  private schools and the applications of one thousand 826 were approved.

No return back for the prep schools

The Minister Avcı said when you study the application numbers and dates you see a sudden jump in the figures and added that this was due to the application of some adversaries to the Constitutional Court to annul the law transforming prep schools to private schools. The minister said people were told that the law would be annulled by the Constitutional Court thus the prep schools would not be closed and would continue to function as usual. “That is why the prep school did not hurry to apply to the Ministry. Yet, the law specified that the earlier you apply the more incentives you get,” the Minister said.

He said despite all this there was a slowdown in applications until the start of the year and the beginning of the fourth phase. “They all saw that the Constitutional Court would not annul the law and thus they should start moving to transform the prep schools. They also saw that even if the Supreme Court annuls the law the change was inevitable and the public had started to distance itself from the prep schools. Thus the applications started to grow.”   

Incentives for private schools

Minister Avcı said the Ministry had consulted the Ministry of Finance on the number of students and incentives to be allocated to private schools that have been transformed from prep schools.

He said the state will provide about 2.500 liras to each pre-school child, 3 thousand liras to each secondary and primary school student, 3.500 liras each to high schools students and this would be provided to 200 thousand students.  

“We are not kidding ourselves”

Asked if he feels Turkish students will perform better this year at the Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) exams Minister Avcı said such exams may be misleading as they may not present the overall picture and concentrate on the specifics and added:

Minister Avcı said such international exams cover children at the age group of 15 and are aimed at specific areas. He said you cannot draw conclusions about Turkish education judging by the results of such exams. There is no doubt that these exams provide us with healthy information about the educational performance of our children at a specific age  but it would be wrong to draw conclusions on the overall state of the Turkish educational system through these exams.

The Minister said Turkey is not at the desired level regarding the exam results but the scores the year before showed that Turkey is among the leading countries that has made amends with speed and has improved its performance at the PISA exams and added:

“We are happy about this. Yes, our placing is not good but we are among the countries that have improved its performance with speed. We are even more pleased that this improvement is seen among the most disadvantaged groups in Turkey. We are among the leading OECD countries to have improved our place in the standings and we have managed to improve the position of the most disadvantaged groups. Are we kidding ourselves? No, we are not kidding ourselves and we are trying to see the good side of the story and we do not want to demoralize our teachers and education experts with unnecessary generalizations.”

The Minister recalled that one million 300 thousand students had entered the High School Placement Exams last year and 4 thousand 500 students had scored full marks. The Minister said at that time people were up in arms saying “what is going on, why so high marks and full marks?” Of course you can get 4 thousand 500 percent scores when one million 300 students take an exam. Yet even this success was displayed as a weak point of our education system.”

New Parliament to discuss the regulation on the Foundation for Education

Giving information about the establishment of the Foundation for Education (Maarif Foundation which will be used to take over the Turkish schools operating abroad all over the globe) Minister Avcı said every country has its own laws and regulations regarding opening and operating foreign schools.

Minister Avcı said  Turkish schools have been opened and operated abroad in various forms in view of the local laws and regulations and it some cases where the schools were not permitted Turkish Educational Centers were launched and went on to say “in some countries there are the schools of the Gülen movement or at least schools that are allegedly affiliated to the Gülen movement. Those schools were opened thanks to the references given by Turkish authorities and even ambassadors. So in fact the Turkish authorities have vouched for these schools.”

Minister Avcı explained that these schools became a topic during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Sudan and other countries and added “the president said he told his counterparts he had lost faith in these schools and that the Gülen movement had been involved in clandestine activities in Turkey and that there was talk that such activities were also carried out in these countries. He also said Turkey no longer vouches for these schools.” Avcı said “you have a school, you have students and an ongoing education activity. There were authorities that said “if this is the case then your Ministry of Education should come to our country and take over the schools and let them run the facilities.” So there is a request. Can we take over these schools? Yes we can.”  

Minister Avcı said the cabinet discussed the issue at length and came to the conclusion that a civilian structure should be set up to run these schools. Minister Avcı said according to a law prepared for setting up the Educational Foundation the foundation will be allowed to set up companies to run the schools, set up new foundations, cooperate with other foundations and cooperate with other educational establishments and official institutions according to the conditions and structures of countries they are requires to operate in. The minister said the law will come to the Parliament after the June elections during the new parliamentary term that will start in October. He said work is in progress to establish the foundation, its structure and inventories. Hopefully the foundation will start work next term.