High school students resist nationwide: “They want to take our teachers away”

News Centre

According to the results of the “2025 Teacher Appointment and Administrator Assignment for Schools with Special Programmes and Projects,” announced by the Ministry on April 8, teachers have been removed from their posts and declared surplus without their consent.

The arbitrary nature of these appointments, which have sparked backlash, has led to sit-ins by students and support actions from alumni and parents in front of schools. The protests, which began in İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir, have now spread across the country.

STUDENTS SPEAK OUT IN KADIKÖY ANADOLU LİSESİ

At Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi, students held a sit-in in the schoolyard. Alumni gathered outside in support. In a statement read by a graduate to prevent administrative pressure on current students, the students expressed that this is not an isolated incident:

“In project schools across the country, including ours, appointments are being made arbitrarily and without any transparency or explanation to either students or teachers. We are watching in sorrow as our beloved teachers, who have dedicated years of service, are abruptly removed and thrown into uncertainty. We are fully aware that this injustice is not an isolated incident.”

The students listed their demands as follows:

• Teacher appointments in project schools must be made based on fair and merit-based criteria.
• Arbitrary punitive practices in high schools must be ended.
• The fundamental rights and freedoms of students must be protected.
• Administrative censorship over student club activities must end, and these activities must be supported.
• The structure of our schools as places where students are raised with an awareness of freedom and democracy in line with the constitution must be preserved.

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO JOIN FORCES WITH HIGH SCHOOLERS

Students from major universities including İstanbul University, Boğaziçi University, Galatasaray University, Bilgi University, Yıldız Technical University, and Bahçeşehir University have called for a joint action with high school students. Today at 15:50, there will be a university march from Beşiktaş to Sultanahmet, followed by a gathering with high school students in Sultanahmet at 16:30.

ANKARA – “ONLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS CAN UPHOLD THIS LEGACY”

Protests began in Ankara’s most established high schools after the morning national anthem ceremonies. In Çankaya alone, over 20 schools saw the dismissal of 246 teachers, declared surplus staff.

At Atatürk High School—also known as "Taş Mektep"—12 teachers were removed. Students gathered at school with placards to show their support. Alumni and parents joined them in a sit-in outside the school.

“PROGRESSIVE TEACHERS REMOVED FROM SCHOOL”

In Hasanoğlan Atatürk Science High School in Elmadağ, students and alumni gathered in support of the 10 teachers who were dismissed as surplus. One of the affected teachers said: “We were shocked when we learned the results on Sunday. Among 21 applicants, 10 were not reassigned. This decision is based on an article in the official guideline that grants the ministry full discretion—essentially making the appointments legally baseless.”

A graduate, E.A., added: “We spent years studying here—what makes this school great are its teachers and students. Now they want to take our teachers away. These dismissed teachers are progressive and innovative, and we stand with them.”

Students from Atatürk Anatolian High School, Hacı Ömer Tarman Anatolian High School, and Nermin Mehmet Çekiç Anatolian High School also staged sit-ins at their school entrances, boycotting classes and reading books under banners that read “Don’t touch my teacher.”

EDUCATION UNIONS: “LAYER UPON LAYER OF CHAOS”

Education unions Eğitim Sen and Eğitim-İş gathered in front of Çağrıbey Anatolian High School, another prominent Ankara institution, to denounce the teacher dismissals under the project school framework. Teachers emphasised that the process lacked transparency and was entirely arbitrary.

Despite the school administration’s obstruction, students at Şehit Oğuzhan Yaşar Anatolian High School in Etimesgut carried out their protest. The administration even threatened to call the police, but students went ahead with their class boycott.

İZMİR

At İzmir Atatürk High School, students protested the removal of 50 teachers as part of the project school policy. They refused to attend the first lesson and held a sit-in in the schoolyard. The school administration reportedly told students, “Only bees that make honey are real bees,” in an attempt to get them back into class.

In Çiğli, students at Çiğli Science High School also held a sit-in.

BALIKESİR

At Şehit Mustafa Serin Science High School in Edremit, Balıkesir, 14 teachers were forcibly reassigned. Students boycotted classes in solidarity and made a public statement to support their teachers.

Source: Liseliler ülke genelinde direniyor: "Öğretmenlerimizi elimizden almak istiyorlar"