Education as a political tool

Tuğba Aydın

For two weeks, the whole country has been engaged in a debate surrounding the planned closure of prep schools -- the majority of which are owned by the Hizmet movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen -- and the possible implications on the education system, with education professionals, legal experts, economists and politicians, among others, raising their voices against the precipitous closure of these institutions.

According to a draft law, prep schools, or dershanes, would be given three years to become private schools. They would also be prohibited from operating as test-prep institutes. If they do not transition into private schools within three years, then they would be closed down. A fine ranging from TL 500,000 to TL 1 million would be imposed on any prep schools that remain open after that time.

Radikal columnist Cengiz Çandar said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been making serious mistakes in recent years, particularly in planning to close prep schools and in foreign policy on the Middle East. Although it is not certain whether the government has ever made a move described in a recently revealed secret national security document that shows the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) signed up for a planned crackdown on the Hizmet movement in 2004, Çandar said he thinks it seems that plan is being put into effect this year.

According to Star columnist Eser Karakaş, the AK Party has taken very important steps in many areas for the country for 11 years, from Turkey's EU bid to its headscarf issue, and the Hizmet movement has taken very important steps in media and education, both in Turkey and abroad. Karakaş said he wants to see both sides work to solve the problem of the prep schools soon. Karakaş also criticized several pro-government columnists who have written prolifically on the problems of prep schools and how harmful they are, asking why they had not written about these problems before the government announcement if the schools are so harmful.

Bugün's Adem Yavuz Arslan wrote that although those who oppose the closure of prep schools have presented a long list of reasons to the government as to why these institutes need to remain open, the government has failed to give any sensible reason as to why it wants to close them.

Published on Today's Zaman, 29 November 2013, Friday