Teachers' Union Boycotts New Dress Code

Members of Özgür Eğitim-Sen, a teachers' union, went to work with casual clothing today, aiming to protest the government's latest dress code reform in public schools. While male union members refused to wear a tie, female members entered classrooms with headscarves.

"We will repeat this protest every Monday until our voices are heard," union members said.

The union urged the government to stop viewing public schools as assimilation centers to fabricate submissive citizens. "The new dress code is not acceptable. The government views and uses public schools as instruments of assimilation on Kurdish children."

The union claimed that the Turkish national education system contained several dogmas and pressures despite the democratization process in the past years. "The latest dress code revision demonstrated what kind of a mentality this system is reflecting."

The union statement underlined two practices that caused inequality between make and female workers, one being men's obligation to wear jacket and tie, and other being the headscarf ban for women. "The dress code does not address these issues in terms of basic human rights and liberties. It ignores women's personal beliefs and self-dignity."

The union said they will not yield to pressures against the advocacy of basic human rights. (YY)