Kamil Pasha

Whitewashed History Textbooks Made “Safe For Democracy”

Records of two military coups in the Turkish Republic’s recent past have been removed from official history textbooks for year-eight students, according to the Education Ministry’s Board of Education and Discipline.

The sections on the military coup of Sept. 12, 1980, and the military intervention of Feb. 28, 1997,  were cut because the board decided the texts introduced matters contradictory to the democratic character of the republic and hampered consolidation of Turkish democracy…. Other sections removed for being contradictory and hampering included the memorandum of Mar. 12, 1971, which was yet another form of military coup, and the Gulf War that took place in 1990 and 1991 between Iraq and a 34-nation coalition authorized by the United Nations but led primarily by the United States and the United Kingdom…. (click here for full article)

Philosophy Textbooks Privilege Religion and National Security

A draft bill to change the philosophy curriculum in high schools has drawn reaction from teachers and academics for its ideological connotations and lack of adherence to scientific knowledge. The government, which has proposed the amendment, has also been criticized for instructing only one institution to prepare the bill without consultation with different universities.   The bill’s critics claim the substance of the draft curriculum is too similar to the curriculum of religion and national security courses….

“In ontology, the students are asked to discuss three subjects: ‘God exists and it can be proven,’ ‘God does not exist and that can be proven’ and ‘We cannot know and prove whether God exists or not.’ But the draft curriculum only focuses on the first discussion, proving God’s existence,” said Yasar Küpeli, chairman of the Philosophers Association, which is comprised of university and high school philosophy teachers…

“The bill has goals for children like ‘internalizing and protecting the national values’ and ‘understand the importance of being a citizen of an independent and powerful state,’ and those have nothing to do with philosophy,” said Küpeli. (click here)

Tags: Education //