For secular, free, scientific education: Together we will change
As part of its ‘We Will Change’ campaign, the LEFT Party exposed the ruling party's education policies. At the people's podium, a call was made to fight for secular, scientific, free education, and it was said, ‘Together we will defeat the regime.’
Policy Service
The İstanbul Provincial Organisation of the LEFT Party showcased the ruling party's policies at Kadıköy Yoğurtçu Park as part of the first phase of the ‘We will change it’ campaign, which focuses on education.
The exhibition, which highlighted the AKP government's reactionary and market-oriented education policies, stated, ‘We will change this system for equal, free, scientific education.’ The exhibitions hung around the park showed children who lost their lives in workplace accidents due to the regime's exploitation through MESEM, schools abandoned to sects and religious communities, and an education system handed over to corporations.
Following the exhibition, a public podium was set up. Speaking first, Veli Der President Ömer Yılmaz said, “Education is an important hope for children's liberation and building their future.” However, Yılmaz said that this hope has been taken away from children and young people under this government, adding:“As a result of increasing poverty and the commercialisation of education, 1,508,000 students have dropped out of school.
With the introduction of pre-school education starting at ages 4-6, a regressive spiral is underway.
Within this spiral, they are attempting to transform our children.
With the ÇEDES Projects, imams and preachers have begun to be brought into schools. Members of religious orders have also been made dominant in schools instead of imams and preachers. On the other hand, children have been exposed to exploitation for ideological and economic interests. Over 2 million children are now working in the labour market. The Ministry of National Education has become a labour recruitment agency. The children of the poor are being reduced to a state of need, earning 5-6 thousand lira while working at MESEMs at the risk of their lives. The children of the poor are being entrusted to Imam Hatip schools and employers. The child of the poor needs 5-6 thousand TL, which is half the minimum wage. In the matter of project schools, 26 thousand teachers were dismissed from their schools.
They have imposed an understanding that seeks to distort the identity of the school, transform it, and place their own political cadres in positions of power.
On the other hand, our young people who speak out against injustice are also being silenced.
Following the arrest of İmamoğlu, hundreds of young people were detained and arrested.
Together with the Parent Network we established, we have intensified our struggle in this area as well.
That is why we know that our solidarity and the struggle we have developed together are our greatest strength for change. The struggle for our right to secular, scientific, equal, and free education also depends on our unity.”
Speaking after Yılmaz, Galatasaray University student Nilay said, “We are a generation that has opened its eyes to the inequalities in our education system with the AKP,’ and added: "We are living in conditions where quality has been eliminated with the policy of “a university in every province”, youth unemployment is growing, students' living spaces are being interfered with by the ÖGB and fascists, our right to education is being violated with investigations, and we are forced to work while studying and die while working.
But we know that with the barrier we broke down on 19 March, our bright future is in our own hands. We will change it together.”
UNITED WE WILL WIN
Semra Aydın, the head of the Acıbadem neighbourhood in Üsküdar, also said that education is an urgent issue. Aydın said, “During my first term as head of the neighbourhood, the residents asked for an empty lot and wanted a good school to be built there. Of course, when we talked about the importance of fighting for this, we saw that they were really worried that we needed to find a solution right away. This is a small example illustrating how urgent the education issue is. Our struggle against the four sectarian boarding schools in the neighbourhood is another example. We must organise ourselves for secular, scientific education through the unity of all of us. We will win by uniting.”
WE WILL ESCALATE THE STRUGGLE
Yaşar Aydın, a member of the LEFT Party's Central Executive Committee, said: “Today, the country is at a sharp crossroads. Either it will consolidate itself and pave the way for a regime that can adapt generations to itself through its education policies, or, as we have said, this country will change completely. We are fully aware that discussing, debating, and fighting together against the problems within life will bring about change, which is why we have launched the first phase of our campaign focused on education.
This regime, with its 23-year history, has begun to act as if everything has always been this way. They have imposed their own history on us, as if private schools have always existed in this country and Islamism is inherent to these lands.
However, we know that this is not the case. There were times when we attended state schools, received a better quality education, and sects and communities were not influential.
The AKP carried out this false transformation primarily through education and the judiciary.
To change this system, we once again embarked on this path, wanting to start with whatever issues the people face in their daily lives. That is why we began our campaign with education. In a place where everyone is engaged in high politics, we will discuss the real issues facing the country. Because we know that revolutionaries are the organisers of life. The best thing revolutionaries do is organise people's lives. Moreover, the country has never been this eager for change in the face of an anti-democratic, fascist regime.
There are years between the morning and evening of 19 March. That morning, we woke up to the operation, and while everything seemed to be under the control of the ruling power in the country, a single image that evening changed the atmosphere. Like winter turning into summer, the young people who broke down the barricades ignited the hope of change across the country. We will now continue this struggle without forgetting that image.”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Laik, parasız, bilimsel eğitim için: Birlikte değiştireceğiz published in BirGün newspaper on June 23, 2025.
