The 2024-2025 academic year will begin in Turkey on September 9. However, due to the impact of climate change, the early opening of schools has caused discussions among parents, especially on social media. There are concerns that students will experience great heat-related problems, especially in cities such as Antalya, Mersin, Adana, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, and Diyarbakır, where temperatures are above 30 degrees even in September. Experts emphasize that the school calendar should be prepared by taking into account other factors, especially the climate, as in many countries around the world, and call for the implementation of the application called the “Step Shift Calendar System”.
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
Education Analyst Turgay Polat, while drawing attention to the fact that climate factors are ignored in the education system, said, “Since the education period started earlier than it should have, thousands of children experienced problems such as school dropouts and school incompatibility. “While in Erzurum in February, there is difficulty in heating schools and in teachers going to school in a healthy manner, in September, the scorching heat in southern provinces such as Antalya and Mersin is oppressive.” said.
Polat added that a single calendar application throughout Turkey would be problematic, and said, “It would be appropriate to prepare school calendars with the ‘Step Shifting Calendar System’, taking into account other factors, especially climate, as in many countries around the world.”
THERE MAY BE SOMEONE WHO GETS SICK!
Dr. Yusuf Kızıltaş, an associate professor at Van Yuzuncu Yil University’s Faculty of Education, said that opening schools in extremely hot weather is defying the weather, and listed the following warnings: “In some countries where extreme heat prevails in the world, there have even been student and teacher deaths. In India, the calendar was changed this year due to extreme heat. This kind SenarWe should not forget the possibility of encountering roads. We may see students losing consciousness or fainting due to the heat.“
CALENDAR SHOULD BE MADE
Noting that private schools start education weeks in advance under the name of various activities outside of the routine calendar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kızıltaş continued as follows: “For some parents, September 9 means that the holiday ends early. This situation is also a disadvantage for teachers. “Of course, there will be a loss in terms of tourism. It would be more accurate to schedule according to regions.”
MID-TERM HOLIDAYS CAN BE REMOVED
Talat Yavuz (Eğitim-Bir-Sen Deputy Chairman)
“Options such as opening schools a week later or gradually opening schools in hot cities should be considered. However, according to the legislation of the Ministry of National Education, an academic year should be 180 working days. In this sense, the more we delay the opening of schools, the more we should delay their closing. Determining different school opening dates in different cities could also create problems in the joint exams of the Ministry of National Education. Maybe it would be better to remove the mid-term breaks and organize the school opening and closing dates without much flexibility.”
RESEARCH SHOULD BE DONE
Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory Meteorology Laboratory Director Adil Tek said that if a decision is to be made regarding the academic year calendar, research should be done first: “A lot of research should be done, such as whether a different method should be applied from year to year or whether the forecasts for that period should be looked at. Otherwise, it would not be right to make a decision with statements like ‘schools should open early, schools should open late, this period will be very hot’.”
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