An Open Letter from ÇYDD to the Ministry of National Education

The Association for Supporting Contemporary Life (ÇYDD), founded in 1989, is 34 years old today.

In these 34 years, as a result of effective cooperation with public institutions, especially with the
Ministry of National Education, our Association has built 56 schools, 36 dormitories, 6 kindergartens
with 17 classrooms, 769 kindergarten classrooms, 555 playgrounds, 36 libraries and donated
5,130,131 books to 3,551 schools. We handed over all these projects to the relevant public
institutions, and in particular to your Ministry. Again, our association has until now, provided scholarships to 104,915 secondary education and 61,042 university students.

During the period of distance education due to the Covid 19 outbreak, our association provided
computers and tablets to a total of 5,224 students. Currently, 9,819 secondary education and 15,196
university students receive scholarships from our association. Following the February 6 earthquakes
that drowned our nation in sorrow, our association provided 1,000 TL emergency aid support to
3,000 students in the region the day after the earthquake, received scholarship applications from
2,700 disaster victims from the earthquake region and started to pay scholarships to those students
who completed their documents.

The Association for Supporting Contemporary Life carries out these activities with all its facilities and
resources and supports contemporary, secular and scientific education, which the Great Atatürk saw
as the most important means of reaching the level of modern civilization; our association will
continue to carry out these activities progressively.

We would like to share our expectations from the Ministry of National Education in the name of
public interest and a contemporary future for our nation, with the Ministry and the public, with the
following clauses:

1- The ÇEDES project and the protocol, which are contradictory to the Constitution and the Basic
Law of National Education, are creating a great controversy in the public opinion and they should be
terminated. Education and training in schools should be given by the staff teachers of the Ministry of
National Education who have the necessary formation. If there is a lack of staff in this regard,
priority should be given to teachers who have graduated from the faculty of education and are
waiting for their appointment. Imams, muezzins and religious officials in any capacity should not be
posted in schools and the student and teacher spheres of schools should be carefully preserved.

2- Secular, scientific and co-educational education must be protected uncompromisingly. No sects or
congregations should be allowed in schools and in the MEB (Ministry of National Education)
organization. We should not forget the pain of the FETÖ coup attempt we experienced as a nation
as a result of sects and religious communities accessing public institutions and the education system by calling the attempt ‘the kindness movement’ of the century; the necessary lessons should be learned and similar mistakes should not be repeated.

3-The budget allocations for the Ministry of National Education and the appropriations the schools
receive should be increased. As a requirement of the social state, school-age children should be
provided with nutritional support. To ensure equality of opportunity in education, the most basic
conditions of quality and accessibility of schools should be ensured.

4-Compulsory basic education should be reorganized in an uninterrupted and comprehensive
manner to include high school.

5- All obstacles to girls' schooling should be removed, children who should be in school but have not
been able to attend school should be strictly monitored and their schooling should be ensured.
Child labor should no longer be a reality in the country. For this purpose, the legal powers and
responsibilities of the Ministry of National Education should be increased and these powers should
be applied without compromise.

6- Curriculum and programs should be updated to comply with current requirements. Atatürk, the
Republic and the achievements of the Republic are not included sufficiently in the curriculum; in
order to instill the cognizance of nation and love of country in future generations, these concepts
should be processed in a more comprehensive and up-to-date manner and should be included in
the textbooks in a qualified way.

7- The esteem of the teaching profession should be restored to that which prevailed in the first
years of our Republic in material and financial terms. With the new regulations to be made in the
Teaching Profession Law, teaching should be freed from being simply the duty of a civil servant and
teachers should be made aware that they are the ones who design and shape the future of the
nation. Career planning of the teaching profession should be carried out by granting the teachers
their wishes and perspectives in the best possible way. The title ‘head teacher’ should remain
unique to the great Atatürk and this leader’s prestige should be preserved. Teachers' salaries should
be handled with a new and permanent regulation. The rights of teachers should be secured, and
they should be supported to be able to practice their profession with enthusiasm and motivation.

8. All village schools that have been closed should be reopened under a plan and even villages with a
single student should not be left without teachers. The practice of transporting students to
education centers should end. Teachers to be sent to village schools should receive training on
adaptation to rural life, effective communication methods with the public and problem solving. It
should be acknowledged that the teacher will be the source of information and enlightenment of the
village. Teachers should be sent to their places of duty with this awareness and motivation.

9. Educational establishments such as private schools, course centers, dormitories, hostels, etc.
should be directed by the Ministry of National Education or supervised by the Ministry and they
should be strictly controlled. All unauthorized places should be closed and legal proceedings should be initiated against those responsible. The legal powers of the Ministry of National Education should be increased in this context. The Teaching Union Act must be applied without compromise.

10. Value education in schools should be given in accordance with universal criteria and definitions
made by UNESCO.

11. The problem of non-appointed teachers should be solved, and all teachers awaiting
appointment, primarily graduates of the faculty of education, should be appointed. The practice of
contract and paid teaching should be abolished. All teachers working in education and training
should have permanent appointments and benefit from state civil service securities.

12. Constructional analyses of schools, especially those in Istanbul, should be carried out for
earthquakes and other risks, and necessary precautions should be taken. The number of students
in the classrooms should be reduced, the number of classrooms should be increased, and the
educational level of developed countries should be attained.

We, as responsible patriotic citizens who believe in the modern future of our country, believe that all
the problems of our country will be solved with a secular, scientific and modern education system
and that our country will develop in all respects. As the Association for Supporting Contemporary
Life, we wish to be a part of the solution of the problems by signing a cooperation protocol with the
Ministry of National Education as in previous years. We are ready to support the Ministry of
National Education with all our members and volunteers on this path.

May the great Atatürk’s maxim, "It is education that either enables a nation to live as a free,
independent, glorious and illustrious community; or abandons it to bondage and misery" be the
light and guide for the Ministry of Education.

Respectfully,
On Behalf of the Headquarters and All Branches of
The Association for Supporting Contemporary Life
Prof. Ayşe YÜKSEL, MD
President