Education directorate argues AKP municipalities taking students to morning prayers 'do not violate Constitution'
The Istanbul National Education Directorate has argued that the AKP municipalities’ activities of taking students to morning prayers "do not violate the law or the Constitution" as participation was on a voluntary basis.
Duvar English
The Istanbul National Education Directorate has backed the AKP-led Çekmeköy and Üsküdar municipalities’ activities of taking students to mosques, the daily BirGün reported on March 27.
Accordingly, the Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim-Sen) applied to the Directorate on Jan. 19, requesting information about and an investigation into the municipalities' taking students to morning prayers under the names of “All Together for Peace” and “Prayers for our martyrs and Gaza.”
The union said such activities organized by the district education directorates were “against” the Constitution, the Law on National Education, and secularism.
“Under the clearly stated provision that laws cannot contradict the Constitution, those with administrative responsibility are also obliged to comply with the existing Constitution. We demand that those responsible for the execution of this unlawful action be informed about the action taken and that a judicial and administrative investigation be opened against those responsible,” the union said in its application.
In response, the Istanbul National Education Directorate backed the activities. It said the activities were jointly organized by the Üsküdar and Çekmeköy District Directorates of National Education and the Mufti's Office.
The Directorate argued that participation was voluntary in these activities, which “do not violate the law or the Constitution.”
Eğitim-Sen has been a staunch critic of religion entering the national curriculum, especially the ÇEDES (“I am Sensitive to my Environment, I Stand Up for my Values”) project.
The state-backed and highly controversial project is an initiative by Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), Education Ministry (MEB), and Youth and Sports Ministry.
The project aims to deliver “values education” to students but has been criticized for shaping behavior aligned with the Turkish government’s conservative ideals.