October 14, 2013

What is the dershane issue and how can it be solved?

Ekrem Dumanlı

As our regular readers have already noticed, we have adopted a calm attitude toward the possible closure of dershanes (private institutes that offer test-prep classes). And we continue to maintain our calm position.

However, our education minister, Nabi Avcı, has started making new statements that could be hurting many people on a daily basis. When we add the polemics started by certain busybodies (I call them busybodies because I can't find a more polite expression), which have nothing to do with the education system, to Mr. Minister's statements, I feel obliged to say something on this issue. Because the Turkish education system's problems can be solved neither by waterboarding parents and students nor by breaking hearts and talking nonsense.

First of all, we have to state this fact: Just like all other educational issues, the dershane issue is not the problem of a certain group, it is a problem of the whole country. This is why we need to oppose the oppressive attitude against dershanes. Regardless of the perspective you bring to this issue, there is something wrong here. It doesn't make any sense to insist on closing the dershanes, which are private enterprises, and keep talking about their uselessness after increasing the number of centrally administrated multiple-choice examinations that the students have to take for high-school admissions to 12 (in fact, the new system was originally planned to include 36 exams, but the number was reduced after the ministry received harsh criticism).

Education officials claim that the children of the poor are falling behind in the race because their parents can't afford additional classes, and even that some poor families are selling their possessions in order to send their children to dershanes. Let's say this is true. Will closing the dershanes be a real solution? Private school tuition is three times higher than the fees dershanes charge. Should we close the private schools as well? The fact is that the dershanes are serving as a lifeline for the poor students because families who cannot afford private schools send their children to dershanes as a quick fix. Dershanes are a tool to eliminate inequalities in education. Parents who send their children to private schools will continue to do so after the dershanes are closed, but inequality in education -- which the dershanes are currently compensating -- will increase. The sin of exacerbating this inequality will be a daunting burden on the Education Ministry's shoulders.

The Ministry of Education says they will provide financial support to dershanes that want to function as private schools. One feels urged to ask: If you can allocate financial support to them, why don't you do this now? If you were concerned about the financial problems that poor families who want to send their children to dershanes are facing, you could encourage the dershane owners to set up a fund to provide scholarships to the children of poor families. You could even make financial contributions by transferring misused educational resources to this fund.

And here's a provocative claim: Dershanes don't want to become private schools because the dershane sector has high profits. But this is truly ridiculous. Why would they oppose becoming private schools when they could charge much more per student that way?

Another disturbing claim is that the government will make new legislation that will deprive the dershanes of the Education Ministry's certificate of inspection. The fact is that dershanes can issue their students neither a diploma nor a certificate; thus, the dershanes do not fall under the ministry's authority, but are judged by the quality of service that they provide.

Since extra lessons outside regular school curriculums are not part of the compulsory education system, the dershanes do not need the ministry's compassionate care. However, when the dershane owners remind their opponents of the basic rules of the free market economy, some people bring up the Law on the Unification of Education (Tevhid-i Tedrisat) to put an iron hand in a velvet glove. I'm afraid that if they're pushed a little bit further into the corner, they'll even start talking about the Independence Courts (İstiklal Mahkemeleri) established under the Law on the Reinstatement of Public Order (Takrir-i Sükun) -- and wouldn't be disturbed by this shift. Too bad!

Presenting the closure of the dershanes as a move against the Fethullah Gülen movement is wrong. When this issue was first discussed, Mr. Fethullah Gülen said, "The closure of the dershanes does not change anything, the service will not be ended because of their closure." Maybe his remark was a bit reproachful. And some dershane owners are saying that the Gülen movement has great experience in running private schools, but the other companies, which comprise a majority in the sector, will be greatly damaged by this move. The fact is that nothing will be hurt but our democracy and administrative system.

It's important to correctly understand the concerns of the Gülen movement. Many interpret closing down the dershanes as a political step against the movement, but not even the junta governments of the Sept. 12 and Feb. 28 coups did so. And the movement has always supported the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government's democratization efforts.

This is why members of the movement believe closing the dershanes is out of step with the AK Party. AK Party supporters, deputies and even ministers disapprove of the Education Ministry's discourse and methods on this issue. The people (especially conservatives) ask: "Why does the ministry deal with this issue as if all the problems of the country were solved?" and want to be given a reasonable answer. The ministry's justifications are not persuasive, which is why many people are upset about this issue. The ministry's insistence on closing the dershanes brings different concerns to the fore.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should resolve the deadlock around the closure of the dershanes. How? In precisely the same way he has with other controversial issues: He needs to take the people's concerns into consideration.

Recall that Erdoğan, while returning from his trip to Turkmenistan in August, told journalists that allowing education in one's mother tongue -- even only at private schools -- would divide the country, and that the government would not reduce the election threshold. However, one-and-a-half months after this, Erdoğan, who took into consideration objections and demands, revised his decision on these issues and included them in the democratization package. And he explained to the people why he changed his mind. Correcting a mistake on the issue of the dershanes cannot be considered a weakness, either of Erdoğan or the government. Otherwise, very deep wounds that will not heal for decades will result.

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 13 October 2013, Sunday

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