Minister Drops Out on Violence at Schools

Minister of Education proposes to move children inclined to violence out of schools and to distant education as a last resort. Experts criticize the proposal, saying the problem is pedagogic and social rather than a question of security.

Kemal Özmen

Turkey's Education and Science Workers Union (Egitim-Sen) expert Erkan Aydoganoglu says the Ministry of Education's proposal to take children inclined to violence or already involved in crime, out of the education system is unacceptable.

Talking at the parliamentary commission established on the issue, Minister of Education Huseyin Celik said the measure would be put into action as a last resort to challenge increasing violence at schools.

He proposed that such children be inscribed to distant education as a caution.

Aydoganoglu, on the hand, says this would isolate such troubled children from social life while the solution lies in including them in the system for rehabilitation.

He accused the Ministry of "dealing with the results rather than causes".

"Violence at schools isn't detached from poverty, social and economic problems in the country. The defects of the education system on the hand, such as lack of funding or human resources further speeds the process thst push children to violence".

He described problem as pedagogic, and not as a question of security.

The Ministry of Education data show that there were 2 990 incidents of violence in schools, involving 7 193 students between April 26 and December 21 of this year.(KO/EU)

Kemal Özmen