Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Minister of Education declares adjunct high school teachers in the East as PKK propagandists

On January 28, Minister of Education Omer Dincer spoke to the TV news-commentary show called Media Club and commented on adjunct school teachers awaiting full-time hire in the Eastern and Southeastern regions of Turkey. Rather than hiring full-time teachers, the Ministry has been criticized to chose cheaper labor and hire adjunct teachers and make them work without insurance. Following a controversy over the problems in the hiring process, and the complaints that only adjunct teachers were being sent to the Kurdish and Eastern provinces, the Minister sought to defend the discrepant hiring system by blaming the teachers instead. Accusing some teachers of being under the influence of PKK and conducting PKK propaganda, the Minister announced that the ministry will further centralize the hiring of adjunct education staff. To justify Ministry's choice to hire adjunct teachers instead of full-time and to exploit the teachers in the process, Dincer said, "you will miss the complete picture if you see it as if it is only a matter of appointing school teachers."

In their press release responding to the comments of the Minister, the Union of Education Workers pointed out the refusal of the Minister to take responsibility for the problems caused by a discrepant hiring system that was put in motion by the Minister's own government in the first place. Further, the Union stated that the Minister's attitude of labeling adjunct teaching staff as a "potential threat" was a product of a more general policy of discrimination carried on by the AKP government.

To read the full report in Turkish visit here.