Minister Tekin began his speech on the 2024 budget of the Ministry of National Education by wishing Allah's mercy upon the PM from the Felicity (Saadet) Party Kocaeli Deputy Hasan Bitmez.

 

Stating that there are nearly 20 million students and nearly 1 million 200 thousand teachers in public and private schools for the 2023-2024 school year, Tekin said together with families and guardians, they are trying to use a language that encompasses 86 million people.

 

Sharing some data from OECD's PISA and TIMMS reports, Tekin stated that Türkiye is one of the countries that is rapidly closing the gap between OECD countries and making steady progress in mathematics and science. Addressing the UNDP's 2022 Human Development Report, Tekin noted that Türkiye ranked 48th among 191 countries in the Human Development Index and was included in the very high human development category for the three time in a row.

 

Emphasizing that the largest share of the budget is allocated to the Ministry of National Education, Tekin stressed that allocating the biggest share to education is taken as a basis for democratization indicators in Türkiye for 20 years.  

 

Noting that they have organized Teachers Room meetings in each province, as they see teachers as stakeholders, Minister Tekin said that teachers give them their opinions on every subject in these meetings.

 

Stating that they have taken some measures in order to share the Ministry's policies with the public more effectively and produce results, Tekin said, "One of the measures taken against digital addictions, especially mobile phones, which parents are very disturbed by. We have taken precautions in our schools to prevent students from using mobile phones in classrooms. We hope that all of the programs, activities, and course environments we carry out will yield more successful results."

 

Regarding the fight against obesity and digital addiction, the Minister said they reorganized school gardens as places where children can play traditional games and release their energy.

 

Reminding that they published a circular in the summer months regarding violence against teachers and peer bullying to prevent parents from being in school corridors and classrooms during lesson hours, Tekin said that in this context, they organized parent meetings based on appointment calendar.

 

Tekin stated that in order to solve the problems experienced by students regarding school attendance, they will warn parents more frequently and take measures to ensure that children are at school more often.

 

Explaining that they took precautions for the summer months because they have realized children's native language skills did not develop as desired and thus children were moving away from their reading habits, Tekin said that they developed a mechanism to measure native language skills based on 4 basic skills, especially by removing the and returning to the classical exam format. Minister added that they introduced a passing grade of 70 as the requirement for passing the Turkish courses in secondary schools.

 

Stating that they reorganized elective courses in the summer months, Tekin said their main duty is to raise young people who will protect the future of this country and its values as well as to educate them with this awareness.

 

Talking about the steps taken by the Ministry to eliminate the destruction of the February 6 earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, Minister Tekin stated that after the first earthquake, educational buildings were made available to meet the emergency shelter, heating and similar needs of earthquake victims in Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Adana, Hatay, Osmaniye and Adıyaman and earthquake victims were placed in solid school, dormitory, hostel, teacher's house and similar educational institution buildings.

 

Emphasizing that the maintenance and repair works of all educational buildings in need of repair were completed in the summer months, Tekin noted that they made approximately 45 thousand classrooms usable for the 2023-2024 school period, developed different types of steel and modular educational structure projects to provide the education needed in the region, due to the risky buildings which are decided to be demolished. Mentioning that they have made short - long term investment planning for steel educational buildings and then reinforced concrete infrastructures, Minister said they planned to build a total of 22 thousand 39 classrooms in 11 provinces, completed the construction of 2 thousand 571 classrooms and put them into service at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. Noting that they have called 210 thousand teachers one by one to meet the accommodation needs, the Minister said that they coordinated 11 thousand 76 containers with AFAD.

 

Stating that they have opened support courses, including in the summer months, in 20 thousand 99 course centers since the beginning of the school year, in order to compensate for the educational losses, for the benefit of 1 million 881 thousand 933 students, Minister Tekin stressed that 30 thousand 124 students were also provided with scholarship support.

 

Commenting on claims raised by some MPs about students entering the university with negative net scores, Tekin emphasized that the statement is legally impossible and incorrect. Replying to some claims raised by MP's regarding the number of faculty members who are expelled, Minister Tekin said that the total number of people who have connections with FETO, not the faculty members, is 6 thousand.

 

Responding to the reactions of MPs from CHP, Minister Tekin said that CHP acts within the mentality as "we define everything in this county and are able to dominate everything. Underlining that Türkiye is no longer a country where the CHP intervenes in people's religion, belief, education and life with its totalitarian laws, Minister Tekin said stressed that Türkiye is now a country where an Anatolian person can become a Minister instead of the privileged elitist segment. Minister Tekin told CHP MPs to wake up.

 

As CHP deputies continued their reactions, Minister Tekin underlined that he would never take a lesson in Turkish nationalism from deputies who support a group of terrorist organizations that prevent children from entering schools, break the windows of schools, and encourage children to join a terrorist organization.

 

Reminding that there are criticisms about the protocols made by the Ministry, Minister Tekin noted that as of 2023, the Ministry of National Education has signed a total of 2 thousand 709 protocols, 1167 with official institutions, 550 with NGOs and 986 with NGOs from TEMA to the Red Crescent. Stating that the number of protocols signed with the NGOs that CHP calls 'religious sects and communities' is 10 at most, the Minister thanked those who supported the Ministry through these protocols. Minister Tekin announced that they will continue to sign protocols with these NGOs to prevent children from becoming terrorists. Thanking for the support given to the 2024 budget of the Ministry, Minister Tekin specially thanked President Erdoğan for the importance he attaches to education.