The original article requires translation.
Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin answered the questions of journalists after the Cabinet Meeting held at the Presidential Complex.
Regarding teacher appointments, "Is the interview abolished?" In response to the question, Tekin reminded that the oral exam practice was introduced within the scope of the decree law regulating the National Education Organization Law, and within the framework of the system established in 2016, 3 times the candidates who passed a certain score threshold in KPSS were called to the oral exam.
Minister Tekin emphasized that according to the law, there must be an interview in teacher appointments, and that the interview system is already continuing since there is no legal change, and said, "Therefore, it is currently a legal obligation to have an oral exam in teacher recruitment." he said.
To the question about the teacher who was detained and released under judicial control due to the speech he gave at the 29 October Republic Day celebrations in Antalya, Tekin said, "How can we approve this behavior of the teacher? When such problems occur and the relevant units are informed, they do what is necessary. How can I approve such a thing?" "We are entrusted with children, we must act accordingly." he replied.
Teacher appointments
Minister Tekin, upon another question, stated that the issue of teacher appointments is in the Parliament and said:
"We want to add teacher candidates to our education family by making as many appointments as possible. But you will appreciate that appointments are not a decision we make alone. Together with our Ministry of Treasury and Finance, we plan to appoint teachers in the areas and numbers we need, within the framework of budget possibilities."
"We are working for a curriculum change to cover all classes"
Stating that a new study is ongoing, Minister Tekin said, "Let me share an issue that is an important topic on our agenda right now. We will probably share with the public the change we will make in the curriculum in December. Because we have been working on the issue of curriculum change for a long time." said.
Stating that a meeting was held on this issue, Tekin said, "We are working on a curriculum change that will cover all classes. With this change, we will not overload our children with unnecessary information that is above their level. There will be simplification in all courses." he said.
"We focus on simplifying or removing repetitive topics."
Minister Tekin said, "What will be the most radical change? Will the subject be shortened?" In response to the questions, he made the following statements:
"It would not be right to say anything about this issue now. When our work on this issue is completed, we will share it with the public. Let me explain briefly: There are recurring issues. There are recurring issues in primary school, secondary school and high school. There are recurring issues and achievements at almost all levels. First of all, these are We are concentrating our work on simplifying or removing it.
The second issue is that there are some subjects that are not explained using pedagogical methods. In other words, the subject taught in high school or the subject taught in primary school do not complement each other. It is a spiral. We always say that our teachers complain about not being able to complete the subjects because the curriculum is too heavy and there are too many subjects. Naturally, during our field visits and teacher room meetings, they state that the weekly class hours are not enough to train the subjects. It is possible to say this for almost all branch teachers. Therefore, when we give everyone more lesson hours, this time the weekly lesson hours reach 60."
"There are subjects taught at almost undergraduate level in secondary schools."
Underlining that they aim to lighten the weight of the curriculum a little, Tekin said, "Each course is studied by experts in the relevant subject. When these studies are completed, the field experts in the commission formed for each course will make the necessary evaluations and changes will be made as a result of these evaluations." he said.
Minister Tekin responded to the question "whether some subjects should not be covered at all in classes?" and said, "There are subjects that should not be covered. Let me put it this way; there are subjects that are taught almost at the undergraduate level in secondary schools." He responded with these words:
Responding to another question, Tekin pointed out the last curriculum change made in 2017 and said, "Since then, there has been no comprehensive change other than minor revisions. I hope the comprehensive change will happen with this work." said.
Stating that they plan to announce this to the public with a launch in December when the studies are completed, Tekin noted that with the change, there may be removals from existing courses or new courses may be added.
Minister Tekin said the following in response to questions regarding the details of the study:
"It would be premature to talk about these already. Because this is an ongoing work. Change does not happen just by removing or adding a course. Every change has parameters that affect it. For example, increasing or removing a course directly affects the standard staff. Therefore, removing a course does not help us in terms of standard staff. "There will be costs. Or there will be costs of increasing or decreasing a course, that is, it will change the balances. Any changes we make require us to take these costs into consideration. For example, such changes reveal the branch distribution in teacher appointment or the situation of excess teachers."