Three year education policy to be announced: Education minister
ANKARA
The National Education Ministry will announce a three year program in two months, newly appointed National Education Minister Ziya Selçuk has said, adding that the ministry would focus on building sustainable and reliable education policy in the new term by “renewing, not reforming” the existing system for the needs of the future generations.
“We will announce a three year program in two months. We will say it is our roadmap for the upcoming three years. We will have utmost communication with the public. Give us time,” Selçuk said in his first public speech on July 20.
“The first generation that starts school today will enter the work force in 2040. It is a preparation for the world of 2040,” he added.
In an era in which robotics have developed, policymakers should consider “what job our children will do” in the future, said the minister.
“Our children will do what robots cannot. We will either build our ship or be dragged by the flow,” he said.
Selçuk underlined that assessment and evaluation regulations in education in previous years have undergone several changes and have caused an interpretation among the public “as if there has been a change in the system.”
The minister added that the changes of the examination policy is not a change in the system but a change in implementation.
“This system works right now. Everybody is in the system. We will repair it while the ship is going, we will transform it while renewing it,” he said.
“None of our students or parents will face surprises. We will not change the rules in the middle of the game. Of course, we have had such principal approaches as a mistake,” he said.
Selçuk underlined that the ministry would focus on collecting data from different platforms, such as social media and former examination data and would build a database for constructing a “healthy education policy.”
“There is a database of the National Education Ministry’s exams. They provide incredible content that can be utilized as a policy document. We can build international policy with them. We do not want to bring changes and reforms all the time, what we do will take time,” he said.
“We have formed a very good team that follows social media. We can provide very good data to produce policy,” the minister said.
“With only regulation policies and without big financial support, we can regulate the existing conditions and mark great advancement. It is possible to make it in a very short time. Education is an institution which is built over the long term but can be harmed in a very short period of time,” he added.
