Teachers in Mersin, Turkey, announce boycott over new education model

MERSIN, Turkey — Teachers in Mersin have announced a school boycott to protest the new centenary education model, which they claim undermines secular and scientific education.

The Teachers’ Union in Mersin has urged teachers, parents, and students to join the boycott against the new governmental curriculum, launched to mark the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.

The Curriculum Withdrawal Platform in Mersin, a subsidiary of the Union of Education and Science Workers, argues that the new curriculum harms secular and scientific standards in education. They describe the boycott as a reaction to the controversial new curriculum, which critics call reactionary and ideologically motivated.

The call for a boycott extends to all provinces in Turkey, aiming to unite educational unions, non-governmental organizations, and civil society groups against the new curriculum. These groups view the curriculum as a step back for scientific and secular education standards.

The boycott follows widespread criticism of the curriculum, approved on 26 May, for deepening gender discrimination and marginalizing democratic values under the guise of promoting national and spiritual values.