22.10.2026 17:01
Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin said that, similar to the lawsuits filed in the United States and the European Union, they are preparing as the Ministry to file a lawsuit against Meta. Noting that age-inappropriate content on platforms negatively affects children's academic and personal development, Tekin emphasized that the company must arrange the content in a way that children cannot access it or be harmed by it.
Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin, regarding lawsuits filed against Meta on the grounds that its platforms harm children, said: "Just as lawsuits have been filed in other countries, in America and in the European Union, on the grounds that our children's exposure to content in these environments that is pedagogically incompatible with their ages negatively affects their academic and personal development, we too, as the Ministry, will initiate such a process."
Tekin made statements on his return from a visit to the United Arab Emirates and answered journalists' questions.
WE ARE ALSO MAKING SUCH PREPARATIONS
Upon a journalist's noting that there are families who have sued Meta, he said: "Yes, we are currently making such preparations too. We are also considering filing a lawsuit." Minister Tekin continued as follows:
"Just as lawsuits have been filed in other countries, in America and in the European Union, on the grounds that our children's exposure to content in these environments that is pedagogically incompatible with their ages negatively affects their academic and personal development, we too, as the Ministry, will initiate such a process. Actually, the main ministry managing this process in Türkiye is not the Ministry of National Education. There are works carried out in the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Transport, etc. They have their powers and duties, but we will enter into such a process to demonstrate our determined stance on this issue."
Tekin, to the question "Will you file the lawsuit against Meta saying, 'You include this kind of content, our children are badly affected, and therefore we complain about you'?", replied: "Yes, either put your content into a form that these children cannot access, or approve it in a way that children will not be harmed. In other words, they will change the content in this way."
SECURITY IN SCHOOLS AND SOCIAL MEDIA WARNING
In response to a question about security measures in schools, Tekin explained that they had categorized the measures to be taken and replied: "Our most fundamental measure is to increase guidance activities in schools. We have created training content on this matter with guidance teachers. Then we took some measures on our Ministry's Ministry Management System. That is, we activated warning measures. There are some pedagogical measures we need to take like these, and we have taken them."
Stating that they also took measures together with the relevant ministries, such as assigning security personnel or police in schools, having police patrol vehicles conduct patrols, and renewing security cameras, Tekin noted the following:
"Social media is not something we, as the Ministry of National Education, can control. Although we have banned mobile phones in schools for students and warn students about social media, when the child goes home, they shut themselves in their room and use social media. Therefore, one of the important points that needs to be done here is for social media producers—both content producers and social media companies—to be responsible in this regard. Because similar incidents have occurred all over the world, for example in Europe and America at the beginning of last week."
Also touching on the measures families need to take, Tekin noted that they made participation in the Parent School program mandatory and that this year's participation was 91 percent.
Recalling that 31,000 garden attendants had been employed, Tekin shared the following information:
"Since there was a problem regarding their continuity, we evaluated the budget draft in this sense for the 2027 budget to see whether we can produce a more permanent solution on this issue. We are discussing that now. Anyway, if we decide how to employ them, there are many options, such as retired police officers, retired non-commissioned officers, rangers, watchmen. But the part about how they will be employed, the issue of whether a new unit will be established. For the 2026-2027 academic year, 1,015 school law enforcement officers have been assigned to permanent duty in 1,102 schools. There are 2,170 private security officers, 31,000 school garden attendants for 9 months within the scope of TYP, 1,015 school law enforcement officers to serve permanently in 1,102 schools for the 2026-2027 academic year, 10,961 safe education coordination officers who will be in constant contact with school administrations in 25,248 schools, and 7,008 teams continuing their duties in 23,075 schools during entry and exit hours."
TURKIC WORLD BOOKS TO BE TRANSLATED INTO 5 LANGUAGES
Emphasizing that they attach importance to placing issues related to Türkiye's geography of hearts more carefully and meticulously in curricula, Tekin recalled that they also added an elective course about the Turkic World to the curriculum.
Minister Tekin stated that after the Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, issues such as establishing a common teacher information network and creating a common assessment and evaluation mechanism were discussed, and recalled that they had published the books "Hakan and Bilge's Journey through the Turkic World" and "Turkic World Cultural Atlas: Bilge and Hakan's Journey Beyond Time".
Stating that they will translate these books into the languages of 5 Turkic states, Tekin explained that if the translations are completed by October 29, they will present a copy to the leaders.
IN-SECTOR SCHOOL TO OPEN WITH THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
Tekin stated that they reorganized agricultural vocational high schools with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and focused on agricultural vocational high schools in line with new needs in the agricultural field, and emphasized that they would also expand the Digital Twin project.
Tekin, conveying that they have projects with the Ministry of National Defense and the Presidency of Defense Industries, shared the information: "ELMAS is a project we are carrying out with the Presidency of Defense Industries, and currently there is great interest from students there. There is incredible demand for schools within the scope of the project where ELMAS is implemented, because it turned out very well. Also, within the scope of the protocol we made with the Ministry of National Defense, certain conveniences will be provided regarding the employment of children who graduate from the designated schools. At the same time, we are opening an in-sector school within the Istanbul Shipyard Command campus with the Ministry of National Defense."
Yusuf Tekin stated that they opened gastronomy high schools in 7 provinces and would expand them, and said they planned to create an inventory of Anatolian dishes and establish an original star-rating system.
PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION CAN BE DISCUSSED
Answering a journalist's question about how the Ministry uses the data pool it holds regarding students, Tekin explained that this system emerged from the need to analyze data in provinces electronically.
Noting that they created a geographic information system in which all of the Ministry's real estate is defined, Tekin stated that with the Ministry Management System project they expanded these modules and added teacher and student data.
Minister Tekin, "Let's say, in the school where a teacher is assigned, what year are they in, when did they come, what are their duties, how many hours of classes do they teach, did they come to class or not? Or student data, from academic achievements to disciplinary practices, from student absenteeism to guidance teacher records. "We need to compile this data. Compiling is not enough either; we need to be able to conduct an analysis from it," he assessed.
Explaining that thanks to the system they can monitor absenteeism rates in schools, student achievement status, and anomalies in provinces and districts, Tekin continued as follows:
"For example, you are a member of parliament, and you say, 'My district needs a school.' We check; within a one-kilometer distance of the place you mentioned, there are these schools. There is one more button; I click it, and TÜİK's data comes up. 2030, 2040, 2050 population projections. There is no need here. Or the provincial director tells us, 'We have a plot of land here; we are building this school there.' Immediately our General Directorate of Construction and Real Estate looks at the population projections there, checks whether there is a school there or not. After that, it says, 'I allow you to build there' or 'I do not allow it.'"
Tekin, stating that there are regions where new schools are needed, used the expression, "There are especially newly opened areas for zoning, areas where population growth is fast. Also, we have places like Şanlıurfa where the need for schools has not been fully met over time."
In response to the question "Can public administration graduates be employed as school principals, to manage in a technical sense?" Tekin gave the following answer:
"We are not in a mindset of creating a dual-headed management. However, the idea of professional school administrators can be discussed. As you know, at present, according to our legislation, there is no position called school principal or school administrator. This is a secondary duty. In other words, he/she is actually a teacher. His/her primary duty is teaching; in addition to teaching, he/she serves as principal. Because of this, he/she has to enter a certain number of hours of classes. It is not something on our immediate agenda today, but the issue of transitioning to this can be discussed. "
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