Minister: Teachers Without Jobs Commit Suicide To Draw Attention

Education Minister Nabi Avcı said teachers who commit suicide because they were not appointed to state schools are trying to seek attention, the ANKA news agency reported on Friday.
Speaking to the press during the parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission's budget discussions on Thursday, Avcı said there is a syndrome called “affected suicide act,” which makes people commit suicide in order to draw attention or make others fall in line with their wishes.
“I have asked my friends who are health experts more information on this issue. I don't know the specific term for it and I hesitate to say this now, but health experts talk about a syndrome called ‘affected suicide act.' According to the syndrome, some people attempt or commit suicide in order to draw attention or make people do what they wish. I'm just repeating what my psychiatrist friends have told me,” Avcı said.
Avcı also said he had spoken to the parents of a 13-year-old girl who killed himself in Bursa allegedly after failing to score as high as expected in the Transition from Primary to Secondary Education (TEOG) exam. “The reason for her suicide is not her TEOG exam score. But even if it was, it wouldn't be right to discuss it openly,” Avcı said.
Union of Active Educators (Aktif Eğitim-Sen) Chairman Osman Bahçe told Today's Zaman on Friday this statement demonstrates how Avcı has failed to understand the reasons behind the suicides of teachers or students.
“They need to understand the real conditions of daily life that citizens face. They fail to understand those teachers who were not appointed to schools and who have their own families to provide for and still receive allowances from their parents. I regard this statement as being disrespectful to those children and teachers who feel so helpless that they end up killing themselves. … Instead of blaming them, the minister should have sought ways to eliminate the conditions that drove those people to commit suicide. They can't eliminate incidents like this by overlooking problems related to education in Turkey. New regulations aiming at restoring justice for all students and teachers must be implemented in order to prevent incidents such as these from happening again. Even if there's a syndrome such as the one Avcı is referring to, the government is responsible for determining the conditions behind such problems and eliminating them,” Bahçe underlined.
İsmail Koncuk, the head of the Turkish Public Workers' Labor Union (Kamu-Sen), told Today's Zaman he does not agree with Avcı because he thinks the main reason behind these suicides is the feeling of helplessness, not making a show.
“The minister should explain whether his statements have any solid scientific basis. I don't agree with him. I don't think people go as far as committing suicide to draw attention. I think it is helplessness and hopelessness that drives people to commit suicide. ... According to our latest research, there are 7,500 substitute teachers currently employed in state schools, while there are not enough teachers being appointed. The minister's attempt to explain the reason behind these suicides as a need to draw attention is turning a blind eye to the problems in Turkey's education policy.”

AYŞENUR EREKER | ISTANBUL [Cihan/Today's Zaman]