MEB Lifelong Learning General Manager Cengiz Mete made a statement about the circular that includes the regulations that make transitions to open high schools difficult and the procedures and principles regarding the circumstances in which transition can be made.
Stating that the Ministry has made changes to the Secondary Education Institutions Regulation in order to strengthen schools and teachers, Mete said that school administrators and teachers see this as a problem area; He emphasized that they have made important arrangements regarding passing grades, attendance and absence, transfers and transitions. Mete said that they made the support and training courses functional according to the needs with the change in the directive.
The aim is to prevent unauthorized private teaching activities.
Cengiz Mete stated that they saw that the transition to open high schools accelerated, especially during the epidemic period, and that an attempt was made to create a perception that open high schools were an alternative to formal education by diverting them from their purpose.
Stating that open high schools are schools where those who are excluded from formal education for various and compulsory reasons or who have lost their right to formal education continue with distance education, Mete noted that these schools cannot be expected to fulfill versatile functions such as peer learning and student-teacher interaction.
For this reason, Mete emphasized that they have rearranged the transition to open education high schools and continued as follows:
“By binding the transition to open education to certain conditions, we tried to prevent the obstacles to the versatile development of our students, possible grievances and educational losses they may experience in the future as a result of their leaving formal education.
In addition, we also extend to our parents who, taking advantage of the situations of necessity and difficult conditions during the pandemic process experienced at the global level and the disaster of the century in our country, the February 6 earthquake, carry out private education studies without permission and provide unfair gain by providing unregistered income, claiming that they are educating our students better academically for different purposes. We aimed to prevent the activities of people or structures that cause economic burden. “We have taken and continue to take precautions with our new regulations against those who claim to prepare students and their parents for higher education by guiding them to open education, but who carry out studies far from pedagogical principles in environments that do not comply with the standards of educational institutions and even have security problems in some of them.”
“We needed to position schools as the center of education”
Mete pointed out that directing students to open education without any reasonable justification causes devaluation of formal education, inequality of opportunity in education, waste of education investments and public resources such as course materials, and disruption of teacher employment plans. Cengiz Mete said, “Therefore, as the Ministry, we had to take new measures and position schools as the center of education. We implemented the new regulations regarding the transition to open education for the reasons we have listed.” said.
Students in earthquake zones will also be able to transfer to open high school
Reminding that transitions to open education high schools are limited at all grade levels of formal secondary education institutions, except for excuse-based exceptions in the Secondary Education Institutions Regulation, Cengiz Mete gave information about the exceptional cases in transitions to open high schools and which students’ excuses will be accepted.
Mete said, “With the limitation, national athletes, children of martyrs and veterans, disabled and special education students receiving education at home and in hospitals, detainees and convicts, students with special conditions within the scope of relevant laws and students who have lost their right to study in formal secondary education institutions; transfer to open education and “Our students in this context were informed in detail to our schools with a circular published with the signature of our Minister.” said.
Pointing out that the circular also includes explanations about those who will be evaluated within the scope of those whose excuses are deemed appropriate by the Ministry, due to the necessary conditions in the transition to open education, and continued as follows:
“Accordingly, those who repeat a grade, those who do not have the same type of school to attend due to a change of residence, those who graduated from basic education institutions but are not registered in any formal secondary education institution, those who have various excuses due to being abroad and those who receive memorization training that requires a long period of time, and those who do not have the same type of school to attend due to a change of residence, those who have graduated from basic education institutions and are not registered in any formal secondary education institution, those who have received memorization training that requires a long period of time, and those who are individuals other than national athletes. or athletes who have participated in competitions with an active license in team sports for at least three years, those who are registered in Turkey’s Olympic preparation centers and athlete training centers, those who reside in temporary accommodation centers in some provinces and districts in the earthquake zone due to difficult conditions and those who receive education services by transportation, those who request and evaluate their situation. “If they have documentation, they can apply to provincial or district student placement and transfer commissions.”
Applications must be made between 15 September and 16 October.
General Manager Cengiz Mete said, “An application must be made to the provincial or district student placement and transfer commissions between 15 September and 16 October 2023, provided that the necessary conditions for transfer to open high schools are documented.” he said.