“Education Workshop” was held within the scope of the preparation meetings of the Second Century Economics Congress to be held by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality on March 15-21. It is expected that the outputs of the workshop attended by academics and politicians, non-governmental organizations whose area of expertise is education, associations, cooperatives and trade unions will contribute to the final declaration of the congress.
“Education Workshop”, one of the preparatory meetings of the Second Century Economics Congress to be held by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality on March 15-21, EGİAD It was held at the Center for Social and Cultural Activities (Portuguese Synagogue) with wide participation. In the workshop, problems and solutions in the field of education and training were discussed. The outputs of the workshop are expected to contribute to the final declaration of the congress on March 15-21.
Problems in education were discussed.
In the workshop, many topics such as the problems in education and training, the problems experienced by students, adaptation problems, the importance of education in disaster areas, the plan for returning to education in disaster situations, the concept of equal opportunity in education, the education of educators, the importance of pre-school education, the importance and regulation of the education curriculum, the effect of digitalization on education. discussed.
Academicians and politicians, non-governmental organizations with specialization in education, associations, cooperatives and trade unions participated in the workshop.
“The biggest revolution is education”
İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Education Coordinator Aytekin Sözen shared the education rate data according to the districts of İzmir and said, “The average of education in 18 districts of İzmir is primary school, 8 of our districts are high school and only 4 of our districts have undergraduate degrees. This is Izmir. A country that has not made an education revolution has no chance to get ahead of anyone. If there is a message from this workshop, from the congress, let's say to the authorities; The biggest revolution that can be made in the new century is education.”
“Vocational education should be dealt with”
prof. Dr. Makbule Başbay stated that she examined the Interim Report of the Second Century Economics Congress and said: “Very good things were mentioned in the report, but some points need to be made more concrete. For example, the issue of vocational training should be dealt with very quickly. The opening of model schools can be set as a direct target. It should be our priority to increase the quality and power of these schools, which are created as models for vocational education.”
“A New Understanding of Programming is Required”
Şükran Evirgen, the founder of the Wallless School, stated that they saw a great decline in the thinking skills and productive thoughts of children and explained the need for a new education program with the following words: “My suggestion is to prepare an eclectic program based on needs, that is, based on the value of thinking universally and acting locally. There is a need for a new curriculum approach that integrates the strengths of the world's advanced early childhood education models into the cultural and developmental needs of our country. The most necessary issue is to create a model; because until now, developments in education have been expressed in terms of physical structure, number of classrooms and teachers. But quality is just as important as quantity. These two factors should never be considered separately.”
“We Must Bring Back the Free Thought System”
Mehmet Seyrek, one of the founders of İzmir Contemporary Education Cooperative (İZÇEK), cited the education system implemented in village institutes as an example and said, “When it comes to democratic education, we see the best example in village institutes. In these institutions, students, teachers and principals would gather and evaluate each other every Saturday. Students could even criticize their teachers and principals, even in 1940. We can't do that right now in 2023. We need to bring back this free thought system,” he said.
Stating that they also want students to be conscientious, compassionate, loving nature, empathizing, loving people and patriotic individuals, Seyrek continued his words as follows: “If we want to live in a good country, we need students with values. So who will do these? We talk, we do workshops, then we say 'Let the state do it', we refer it. These will be done by associations, foundations, and mostly cooperatives. We will do this, we should do it.”
Congress on March 15-21
The Second Century Economics Congress, a civil, transparent and fully participatory initiative, will be held between 15-21 March 2023. At the end of the congress, policy proposals that will shape the new century will be shared with all of Turkey.
Comprehensive negotiations on the long-term consequences of the destruction caused by the earthquake were included in the program of the Second Century Economics Congress, which was postponed to March 6-2023 after the great earthquake disaster on February 15, 21. Many different sessions were added to the program, such as creating cities that are compatible with nature and resistant to disasters, and disaster management.
It will bring together respected scientists and experts
The program of the Second Century Economics Congress, which will last for seven days, includes main sessions, delegate meetings, forums and artistic activities. The main congress will bring together respected scientists and experts from Turkey and the world. Nearly 70 speakers will make many comprehensive presentations. Names such as Vandana Shiva, Bob Geldof, Michio Kaku and Andrew McAfee will give talks on building the future.
The secretariat of the congress is carried out by the İzmir Planning Agency (İZPA) affiliated to İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. You can visit iktisatkongresi.org for detailed information on the Economics Congress of the Second Century.
Who participated?
prof. Dr. CHP Ankara Deputy Yıldırım Kaya, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Education Coordinator Aytekin Sözen, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Training Workshop Executive Board Members Hülya Altun and Özgür Kaplan, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Vocational Factory Branch Manager Zeki Kapı, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Ezgi Şengül from Masalevleri, Dr. from Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Sustainable Urban Development Network. Derya Altun, Director of Izelman Kindergartens Özlem Bulsu, Izelman A.Ş. Eda Kaygusuz from Kindergartens, Ahmet Piriştina City Archive and Museums Branch Manager Tuğba Kılınçkaya, Kemalpaşa Mayor Rıdvan Karakayalı, Bayraklı Municipality Deputy Mayor Osman Çağrı Şahin, Çiğli Municipality Education and Social Projects Coordinator İlyas Aydınalp, Another School is Possible Yasin Sancak from İzmir Cooperative, Mehmet Seyrek, one of the founders of İzmir Contemporary Education Cooperative (İZÇEK), Adem Yıldırım from Education Business Union, Education Union' Prof. Erkan Aydoğanoğlu from the Private Sector Teachers Union, Rabia Atbaş from the Private Sector Teachers Union, Şükran Evirgen, the founder of the Wallless School, Özgün Utku, the İzmir Branch President of the New Generation Village Institutes Association, Haydar İlkay Çelik and Murat Kurt from the İzmir Education Cooperative, Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gul Bayraktaroglu, Karşıyaka Alper Akbulut from the Collective Entrepreneurship Center, Hatice Akar, Head of Karabağlar Refet Bele District, Assoc. Dr. Mehmet Toran, Prof. Dr. Makbule Basbay, Prof. Dr. Ömer Lütfi Değirmenci, Assoc. Dr. Cigdem Boz, Prof. Dr. Hatice Sahin joined.