A teacher’s union platform in Mersin, Turkey has urged educators, parents and students to join a boycott on 11 June against the government’s new curriculum, launched in respect of the Turkish Republic’s Centenary.
Mersin Curriculum Withdrawal Platform, a subsidiary of the Education and Science Workers Union (EĞİTİM-SEN), argues that the new curriculum compromises secular and scientific standards in education. The boycott action is a targeted response to the controversial new educational curriculum in Turkey, which has been characterised by critics as regressive and ideologically motivated.
The platform urges teachers to not attend schools and parents to keep their children at home, a move demonstrating strong dissent against the new curriculum, which critics argue is aligned more with a particular political ideology rather than educational value.
The call for a boycott covers all 81 provinces of Turkey, aiming to unite various nationwide stakeholders against the curriculum. This includes educational unions, various NGOs and civic organisations who all see the new curriculum as a step backward in terms of scientific and secular education standards.
Critics argue that the curriculum:
– Declares war against scientific and factual education.
– Targets secular education and lifestyle.
– Erases the enlightenment values of the Republic.
– Lacks gender equality and ignores social and cultural diversity.
– Seems to be hastily implemented without adequate preparation or pilot testing.
The protest action was announced during a press conference at the union building in the Mediterranean district on Monday, with a banner reading: “We warn you. Withdraw the non-secular and unscientific curriculum.” The event was attended by İbrahim Akın, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party from Izmir, who supported the call for action.
Dr. Mehmet Antmen, General Secretary of the Mersin Medical Association, also criticised the government’s educational policies, stating, “The curriculum changes deliver education entirely into the hands of dogmatic and reactionary sects. We will not surrender our children, our future, to sects and their mentality.”
Antmen invited students and parents to a press conference in front of the Yenişehir National Education Directorate on Tuesday. He emphasised the need for collective resistance to protect the democratic and secular nature of the country’s education system. “If we unite and fight, we can win; there is no other way. Join the boycott and organise resistance together,” he urged.
This move comes in the backdrop of widespread criticism of the curriculum, which was officially approved on 26 May. Critics, including parents and various educational groups, have slammed the curriculum for deepening gender discrimination and sidelining democratic values under the guise of promoting ‘national and spiritual values.’ The curriculum’s focus on religious content has sparked fears of indoctrination, further polarising the nation’s educational landscape.
