With the adoption of the Teaching Profession Law on February 3, the door to many discussions was opened. At the beginning of the discussions, the subject of teachers becoming specialists through examination, Turkish Eğitim-Sen Union applied to the Council of State for the annulment of the "Regulation on Candidate Teaching and Career Steps" for the implementation of the Teaching Profession Law.
“CAREER PLANNING SHOULD BE BY EXPERIENCE NOT BY AN EXAM”
Pointing out that the career planning of teachers should be based on experience, not exams, Türk Eğitim-Sen Union stated that the course and exam requirement in the issued regulation cannot be accepted, and demanded that every teacher who has completed 10 years of age be given the title of expert and every teacher who has completed 20 years of age be given the title of head teacher. However, the Ministry of National Education (MEB) did not give up on the education program and exam requirement. Türk Eğitim-Sen Union, which applied to the judiciary for the annulment of the said regulation, also stated that the 6th article of the Teaching Profession Law No. 7354, which is the basis of the articles requested to be canceled, is unconstitutional and demanded that the file be sent to the Constitutional Court for concrete norm control.
“THE EXPERT WITH 10 YEARS AND THE HEAD TEACHER WITH 20 YEARS”
In the lawsuit petition of Türk Eğitim-Sen Union said, “Teaching profession is a profession of specialization, as also stated in the Teaching Profession Law, and it is necessary to make arrangements in such a way that the titles of expert teachers and head teachers are given to all teachers according to their seniority. For this reason, the exam requirement should be removed. Separation of teachers to career steps depending on exam conditions will disrupt the working peace among teachers, and will make parents compete to give their children to specialists and head teachers. Every teacher who has completed 10 years without an exam should be an expert, and every teacher who has completed 20 years should be a head teacher.”
“INJUSTICE WILL BE BETWEEN PEOPLE IN THE SAME CONDITIONS”
In the petition, for those who will apply for expert teaching and head teacher, both in the regulation and in the article 6/1-C of the law, it was stated that the condition of not having the penalty of stopping the advancement of the level was sought, and added, “In this case, the promotion of the teachers who are punished with the advancement in the level is prevented from being promoted in the career ladder and it is caused to face a second and more severe sanction. With this aspect, there will be injustice among people who are in the same conditions, and the civil servant who has been disciplined for an act will be prevented from rising in the career ladder and he-she will be deprived of a salary that he-she can receive from this aspect.”
A LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED NOT ONLY AGAINST THE REGULATION, BUT ALSO AGAINST THE DIRECTIVE
With the aim of implementing the regulation, the Directive on Teaching Career Steps, Professional Development Studies and Training Program was published on 13.05.2022. Türk Eğitim-Sen Union, with the 8th article of the said directive, requires that they do at least one study from each of the fields of study included in the professional development studies tables related to expert teaching and head teacher. A lawsuit was filed before the Council of State for the annulment of the regulation.