Feray Aytekin Aydoğan With only a few days left until the new academic year, a circular has once again been published by the Ministry of National . From the years when teachers and students were the subjects of education to the present day, we are living through an era where all decisions are taken from above via circulars and regulations. In the 2020s, we repeatedly reminisce about the education of the 1940s in the "Former Turkey".
In the 1940s, the administrations of the Village had decentralised management authority. Each institute planned its own daily operations and, partially, its curriculum. In the meetings held one day a week—also known as criticism days or Saturday meetings—everything was discussed openly.
It was a fundamental educational practice where students and teachers evaluated what had been done throughout the week, engaging in democratic debate and self-criticism. As Tonguç wrote in his book The Concept of Primary Education, even if the public could do what they wanted, they would not know what they wanted unless they were awakened. The school was the ideal of "living as a democratic public".
The day before yesterday, the placement results for the Higher Education Institutions were announced. Out of 766,971 final-year students, only 15.9 per cent were placed in an undergraduate programme. In 2025, this rate was 29.6 per cent.
While the undergraduate placement rate for Anatolian high school students was 29.6 per cent in 2018, this rate is 18.4 per cent in 2026. Every piece of data announced was evidence of the destruction created in public, scientific education. Whilst in the midst of such immense destruction, we are faced with a circular that renders the problems invisible and once again targets the professional prestige and rights of teachers.
∗∗∗ An obligation to wear aprons has been introduced for teachers. First and foremost, this clause has no legal basis. A practice is being imposed that strips away even the right to choose their own clothing from teachers, who have been removed from being subjects in every field of education.
The point reached from the periods when uproars of "we brought freedom of dress" were made is the reality of a country where how teachers and students will dress is decided by circulars. The circular also introduces a mandatory academy requirement for surplus . It is now a universally known truth that the quality of the academy programmes is entirely far from improving the quality of education and is devoid of scientific educational content.
There is not a single example of this in the world either. Furthermore, the circular includes the statement "assigning surplus permanent teachers to other fields with a need for teachers following their Academy training". Instead of making sufficient teacher appointments, a step has been taken as a way to meet the need for teachers in different subjects, once again considered within the scope of "austerity in education".
It carries the possibility of a decision that will create serious problems regarding the students' right to a qualified education. It is also understood that those who wrote the clause banning mobile phones in the classroom for teachers into a circular have not stepped into a classroom even once in their lives. Firstly, in schools without internet or with internet problems, teachers were forced to conduct lessons using their personal internet connections.
How will the conduct of lessons be possible with this ban, given the use of smart boards announced as a revolution in education, the scanning of QR codes frequently found in textbooks, and dozens of other reasons we could list? Who will take responsibility for a potential vital risk in emergency situations where students experience a problem, such as a health issue, during a lesson? ∗∗∗ The content of the circular has been prepared in a way that is completely detached from the resolution of problems, the best interests of the children, and the reality of the field.
For instance, in the clause regarding school safety, with what budget, and when and how will the measures listed with the expressions "urgently completing physical improvements such as ensuring controlled entry and exit in school environments, separating pedestrian and vehicle traffic, illuminating blind spots, and carrying out maintenance and repair work that will provide rapid and safe evacuation in emergencies" be implemented when there is so little time left until schools open? Again, for example, what will be the criteria for abstract, open-ended expressions such as "graduation events shall be compatible with societal values and student identity"? How will the "I Eat Healthy at My School Programme" included in the circular be implemented when children do not have the right to free school meals?
There is much more to be said regarding the circular. Every day we live through cries out to us the truth that a united, collective struggle is the only way forward. Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Önlük ve Akademi zorunlu!, published in BirGün newspaper on August 20, 2026.
