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Reaction Grows Over Cronyism In School Principal Appointments

17.09.2014 19:08

Reaction is increasing to what may be systematic discrimination in the case of school principals who were dismissed from their posts following the Principal Assessment System conducted by the Ministry of Education. Former principal of the 60th Yıl Meyveli Bahçe School, an elementary school and an imam-hatip high school, Nevzat Kul was one of the thousands who recently lost their jobs and he told Today's Zaman that he had been in the post for almost 16 years, starting there after completing management training given by Ministry of Education at İzzet Baysal University. “Our biggest crime is to refuse to be proponent [of the government]. The person who will replace me has not been specified yet. Those things [appointments] are being carried out secretly,” Kul said. Stating that he hopes for nothing but justice, Kul noted that he worked hard to learn more and more in İstanbul and other cities he worked in for years, without expecting any reward. “I just want them to take a look at our docu

Reaction is increasing to what may be systematic discrimination in the case of school principals who were dismissed from their posts following the Principal Assessment System conducted by the Ministry of Education.

Former principal of the 60th Yıl Meyveli Bahçe School, an elementary school and an imam-hatip high school, Nevzat Kul was one of the thousands who recently lost their jobs and he told Today's Zaman that he had been in the post for almost 16 years, starting there after completing management training given by Ministry of Education at İzzet Baysal University. “Our biggest crime is to refuse to be proponent [of the government]. The person who will replace me has not been specified yet. Those things [appointments] are being carried out secretly,” Kul said.

Stating that he hopes for nothing but justice, Kul noted that he worked hard to learn more and more in İstanbul and other cities he worked in for years, without expecting any reward. “I just want them to take a look at our documents and make a fairer decision about me and others who got a raw deal,” Kul went on.

Principals who had been serving for four years or more in their posts were evaluated on August 15. Principals who scored at least 75 out of 100 in the assessment were to have their tenure extended for four more years. But it would appear that nearly all the principals who are members of unions that do not support current government policies faced discrimination in the assessment.

Nesimi Alpkılıç, the former principal of Ümraniye Central Anatolia High School, told Today's Zaman that they will fight to the finish because they were unjustly removed from their posts. “We are struggling for our honor. It does not matter whether they remove me from my post or not. Directorship is like a jacket. If the state wants you to wear it, you wear it. If not, you just take it off. Now I took my jacket off. This is not our problem. I do not object my removal. We object because nobody is giving us a logical explanation for our removal. Did I commit a theft? Did I commit an illegal act? No! There is no investigation being carried out against me,” he said.

In a previous interview with Today's Zaman, Alpkılıç claimed that the government's reshuffling of the judiciary and police following a corruption probe that was made public on Dec. 17 of last year has spread to the education system as well. “A district manager who arrived just four months ago assessed us, and believe me, he doesn't even know who we are. He gave me 68 points and marked me 'unsuccessful.' Those who have called me 'successful' in the past are now marking me 'unsuccessful',” he said.

Former principal of Eyüp Mareşal Fevzi Çakmak commercial high school Ahmet Kodak, who was rated unsuccessful although he received 40 out of 40 points, says that this is because he is not a member of the pro-government educators union, the Education Personnel Labor Union (Eğitim Bir-Sen). “We were removed from our posts just because we did not let anybody interfere and politicize our schools. This year was the first time I could not attend the opening ceremony of my school in the past 32 years. Those who know us are very well aware that we have nothing to hide. But what about those who do not know us? They probably have the idea that we were removed because of illegal activities,” he said.

Hayrettin Özkaya, the former principal of the İMKB girls' technical and vocational high school and an educator with 20 years of experience, said that they were protesting against injustice and irregularities, not the removals. “In July, I was awarded extra salary and in August I received a certificate of high achievement from the district director of national education. But the same district director of national education then removed me by giving me a low grade the following month. How does this punishment and reward process work? According to which criteria? While the ministry and the governorship reward me, the district director of national education removes us from our posts. There is an inside job here,” Özkaya said.

Şeyma Bal (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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