Ministry probes into alleged ‘waste of free textbooks’ in schools

ANKARA

The Education Ministry has initiated an investigation into claims made by the local media that private schools are selling free textbooks provided by the ministry to recycling facilities.

In the notification sent to the country's all 81 provincial directorates, the ministry stated that “necessary actions have been taken in relation to the news in the press concerning the fact that free textbooks distributed by the ministry to public and private schools are disposed of as scrap paper without being given to students or never used in the lessons.”

Institutions found to have committed this act will be prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the Private Education Institutions Law, the notification remarked. The relevant article of the law includes provisions on "cancellation of the permission to open an institution, closure and transfer of the institution."

Institutions might be subjected to an administrative fine of five times the gross minimum wage in case of acts contrary to the provisions specified in the regulations and directives. In case of a repeat offense, the amount of the administrative fine will be increased. In case of a third repetition, the work licenses of the institutions will be canceled.

With the new regulation, all private schools are also compelled to actively use the ministry’s textbooks in lessons, and at the end of the academic year, the textbooks must be delivered back to the provincial directorates of education.

Previously, an article about private schools forcing students to buy additional textbooks that can cost up to 20,000 Turkish Liras ($753) per student was published by a daily newspaper. The article claimed that the content of the ministry's books was insufficient and unsuitable for preparing students for high school or university entrance exams.

Additionally, it was mentioned that some private schools sell the textbooks they receive to recycling facilities for a fee even before the start of the academic year. Others keep the books in storage facilities with the intention of holding off on sales until the academic year's end.