Education and Science Workers' Union Central Executive Committee Member Özgür Bozdoğan said in discussing the draft law, “while the need is to prevent child labour, the Ministry of National Education is to the contrary encouraging child labour.”
Buse VURDU
Ankara
It is envisaged under a draft law the AKP has submitted to parliament to bring apprenticeship training within compulsory education and to entitle organized industrial zone administrations to open vocational educational centres able to obtain state support and having the status of private education institutions. Assessing the draft law for our newspaper, Education and Science Workers' Union Central Executive Committee Member Özgür Bozdoğan stated that what was being aimed at with the amendments in question was for children to be supplied to the market as cheap labour and for education to be shaped in accordance with the needs of the market.
A nineteen-article draft law concerning National Education has been submitted to parliament by the AKP. Two new provisions on vocational high schools are also included in the draft bill. It is envisaged under the draft bill that will be debated in the Parliamentary Committee on National Education, Culture, Youth and Sport on Thursday to compulsorily classify apprenticeship-premastership-mastership training under the vocational education programme and entitle organized industrial zone administrations to open vocational educational centres.
Education and Science Workers' Union Central Executive Committee Member Özgür Bozdoğan stated that what was being aimed at with the amendments in question was for apprenticeship to be disseminated and encouraged. Noting that the inclusion of apprenticeship training within compulsory education was a pedagogically incorrect implementation, Bozdoğan said that what was meant by “compulsory education” was a child acquiring basic educational skills and a child discovering itself. Stating that the inclusion of apprenticeship, a form of employment, within compulsory education would lead to the use of children as a cheap labour force, Bozdoğan indicated that this was an unacceptable situation. Stating that, while the need was for an endeavour to prevent child labour, the Ministry of National Education was to the contrary encouraging child labour, Bozdoğan said, “These amendments amount to a step beyond the approach of using vocational and technical education to prepare children for the market as intermediary personnel the Ministry of National Education set out in the 2023 Vision Document.”
Also assessing the right granted to organized industrial zones to open vocational educational centres, Bozdoğan said the state wanted to bring about the normalization and dissemination of apprenticeship through the intermediation of organized industrial zones. Pointing out that by this means the Ministry of National Education had delegated its task of providing education as a public service to organized industrial zone administrations, Bozdoğan opined that the market-oriented configuring of the educational field was proceeding at full speed. Also criticizing the state support for vocational educational centres that will be deemed to have private school status, Bozdoğan stated that the draft law showed public funds would continue to be spent on private schools.
The measures for bringing apprenticeship-premastership-mastership training within compulsory education constitute the final touches for making time spent at apprenticeship training centres count towards twelve-year compulsory education. This amounts to children who leave school and start working as apprentices being made to appear to be in twelve-year compulsory education. With students who first obtain apprenticeship training able to obtain a high school diploma by completing courses through open study, under the planned measures students who complete vocational training centres will be deemed high school graduates.
Under another amendment in the draft law, organized industrial zones are entitled to open vocational training centres. Under the amendment to be made to the Private Educational Institutions Law number 5580, vocational educational centres acquire the status of private educational institutions. Since the vocational educational centres to be opened by organized industrial zones will be deemed to be private educational institutions, the way is also opened for them to receive state support. Through entitling organized industrial zones to open vocational educational centres, the exploitation of child labour will be legalized with it classified as “vocational education.”
(Translated by Tim DRAYTON)
Bülent Falakaoğlu
Hakkı Özdal
