School year begins amid confusion and protests

ISTANBUL

The Education-Work (Eğitim-İş) Union’s Istanbul branch starts a signature campaign aiming for the cancellation of the new education reform package. DHA photo

The new school year, the first in which the new “4+4+4” education system is in place, starts today amid protests and confusion regarding the content of the syllabus. The new system extends mandatory schooling to 12 years and divides that time into three separate levels.

Education Ministry Elementary Education General Manager Funda Kocabıyık said first graders had previously been academically overloaded, and that the 12-week education material prepared by her office would ensure that the transition to the new system was smooth.

“The students do not step right into academic training. They will initially study in their classes through role playing and games, but this does not mean that they will simply entertain themselves with games all day long. They will be both entertained and instructed.”

Yet, the new education reform has raised eyebrows among various organizations who claim that the content of the new syllabuses was not clear.

Signature campaign
The Education-Work (Eğitim-İş) started a signature campaign on Sept 7, claiming that children at five-and-a-half years of age are not cognitively capable for receiving education at such an early age.

Republican People’s Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also mentioned the new “4+4+4” education plan yesterday, without naming it directly. “I know the power of mothers. I trust mothers. Everyone sees the sacrifice that mothers make for the future of our children.”

According to the new education plan, children can only be exempted from commencing school by getting medical reports confirming their inadequate mental capacity.