Opposing the majority


Date posted: November 21, 2013

TUĞBA AYDIN

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will not back down from its decision to close prep schools, despite ongoing discussion on the matter and deepening polarization over the government’s move.

Erdoğan asserted that the initiative to close prep schools is not new, but dates back to an earlier period of AK Party rule and is part of a broader plan to transform the dysfunctional education system.

However, the majority insists that these prep schools should not be closed. Only 21 percent of people polled support the government’s move, according to a survey conducted by Mak Danışmanlık (Mak Consultancy). As the debate about prep schools continues, South Korea might be a useful case study, as it reopened its prep schools, which were abolished after the 1980 coup, due to the increasing number of unregistered schools and a decision from its Constitutional Court. Some columnists shared their views on the necessity for prep schools.

According to Sabah columnist Nazlı Ilıcak, Turkey has a great need for prep schools. Around 2 million students took the Student Selection and Placement System (ÖSYS) examination this year, and only 385,000 of them were accepted by their chosen faculties, meaning that students must take supplementary courses due to this intense competition, writes Ilıcak. She also adds that the need for prep schools can only be reduced if the government provides students with small class sizes and a sufficient number of qualified teachers.

Zaman’s Mehmet Kamış says that on many issues, including prep schools, the government marginalizes a segment of society for its ideological views, but the government should not rely on partiality and ideology. It is impossible to do science and generate free ideas in a country in which the education system is intervened in by the government, Kamış believes.

Source: Today's Zaman , November 21, 2013


Related News

The Failed Military Coup In Turkey & The Mass Purges: A Civil Society Perspective

Both Turkish society and the world celebrated the fact that an anti-democratic intervention in the government was prevented. Turkish government has every right to pursue plotters within the law. The actions of President Erdogan’s government in the immediate aftermath of the coup, however, constitute a mass purge rather than a proper investigation.

International panel on Virgin Mary held in Istanbul

The international panel entitled “The Virgin Mary in the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an” jointly organized by Journalists and Writers Foundation’s Intercultural Dialogue Platform (KADIP), Roma Tevere Instituto and Izmir Intercultural Dialogue Center took place in Istanbul. In the final declaration of the panel, it was noted that the Virgin Mary who broke many discriminative taboos of her time played a significant role throughout history in placing women in the status they deserve.

Victims of the state, come together

The reactions given by the spouses, families, relatives and supporters of those taken into custody during the police operations against certain police officers on July 22 are really significant from a political perspective.

Gulen Movement, civilian governments and the AK Party

The Gulen movement’s understanding of politics and the political process differentiate it from the military and bureaucratic elite. Its main political objective is to transform society by raising the moral consciousness of individuals. By raising moral consciousness, the movement hopes to cleanse the bureaucracy of widespread corruption, increase the efficiency and transparency of state institutions, reinvigorate public work ethic to serve the people in order to enhance the legitimacy of the state, and create opportunity spaces for marginalized sectors of the Anatolian population.

Fethullah Gulen’s Message of Condolences for Victims of Terrorist Attack at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport

Turkish Islamic scholar and peace advocate Fethullah Gulen, who has been residing in Saylorsburg, PA since 1999, condemned the horrific terrorist attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport.

Reassignments — new mobbing on massive scale by gov’t to silence dissent

According to commentators, the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party), through these reassignments, is not only putting pressure on those carrying out the graft probes but also sending a message to its critics in state positions that their fate will be no different from that of their reassigned colleagues if they do not desist from their criticism of the government.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Abuja hosts 2016 Int’l Festival of Language and Culture

The Gülen Movement and human rights values in the Muslim world

Science, Culture and Art activity held at Fatih College

73-year-old says looking after grandchildren as daughter, son-in-law behind bars

HRW: 6 Turks taken from Kosovo to Turkey face risk of torture and abuse

How hateful discourse manipulates our perception

Fethullah Gülen’s Message of Condolences for Greece Wildfire Incident

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News