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Ministry Of Education To Bypass Top Court Ruling Allowing Prep Schools

31.07.2015 18:13

The Ministry of Education will circumvent a Constitutional Court ruling which annulled a controversial law that sought to close down prep schools, known as dershanes, by refusing to issue the schools new licenses.According to a report in the Hürriyet daily on Friday, the new formula devised by the General Directorate of Private Training Institutes, a branch of the Ministry of Education, means that those prep schools that do not transform into “temel lise” -- a basic high school -- would not be granted a prep school license.The Hürriyet report also stipulates that some officials from within the ministry, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the Constitutional Court's ruling could not be applied to existing legislation, meaning the prep school ban could remain in effect.The officials from the ministry told Hürriyet that any dershane that continues to offer classes will be practicing without a license and categorized as a “non-legal educational institute.

The Ministry of Education will circumvent a Constitutional Court ruling which annulled a controversial law that sought to close down prep schools, known as dershanes, by refusing to issue the schools new licenses.

According to a report in the Hürriyet daily on Friday, the new formula devised by the General Directorate of Private Training Institutes, a branch of the Ministry of Education, means that those prep schools that do not transform into “temel lise” -- a basic high school -- would not be granted a prep school license.

The Hürriyet report also stipulates that some officials from within the ministry, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the Constitutional Court's ruling could not be applied to existing legislation, meaning the prep school ban could remain in effect.

The officials from the ministry told Hürriyet that any dershane that continues to offer classes will be practicing without a license and categorized as a “non-legal educational institute.”

Prep schools are private institutes that help students prepare for standardized high school and college entrance exams. There have been concerns that the law closing the schools could block upward mobility in Turkish society and leave some 55,000 people jobless as a result.

The Constitutional Court recently released its reasoned decision for its July 13 ruling to annul the controversial law seeking to close down dershanes, stating that the law was in violation of the right to education and freedom of labor.

The court emphasized that it annulled the law because it was in violation of the freedom of companies to operate for profit and the freedom of education. The court also stated that dershanes cannot be closed down unless all other alternatives, which the court says should exist outside the students' schools, are being provided to the students to help them prepare for the university entrance exam.

In its reasoned decision, the court stated: “In democracies, the duty of the state is to provide opportunities for individuals to make choices in a pluralistic environment, to refrain from having attitudes that will eliminate this atmosphere and to prevent damage being done to this atmosphere. The right to preference can be restricted under certain circumstances, but this right of the people cannot be removed completely.”

In a surprise move the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, decided in November 2013 to close down the prep schools, stirring up a massive debate. These schools, with their affordable fees, are regarded by middle and low-income families as equalizers of educational opportunities.

The AK Party government's bill banning the privately owned university prep schools was passed by Parliament on March 7, 2014 and signed into law by then-President Abdullah Gül five days later. Under this law, all dershanes were to be shut down by Sept. 1 of this year.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) later challenged the law, saying it was a blow to the right to free enterprise. The CHP filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court to annul the law last year.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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