A series of measures towards "confidence building" was proposed by the Technical Committee for Education, which was appointed about ten months ago, and will soon be implemented. They do not only concern the introduction of Turkish Cypriot texts in the literature course, something that has provoked public debate in recent days.
The Commission's proposals have already been accepted by the leaders of the two communities, the President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiadis and Mustafa Akinci, and now it is the turn of the Ministry of Education to take action for their implementation. The most important and perhaps the most innovative measure concerns the establishment, for the first time, of a mechanism through which Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot teachers and students will be able to get in touch.
The above results from statements, both from the political head of the competent ministry Costas Kadis and from the president of the e / k side in the Technical Committee for Education, Michalino Zembylas. As the Minister explained on his part, the Technical Committee worked out some measures that promote the contacts of students and teachers of the two communities. He pointed out that the proposals were approved by the leaders of the two communities and that at this stage, the ministry is considering how to implement them. Mr. Kadis also clarified that the joint activities will be educational and not political, while at the same time he said that the involvement of students and teachers of all levels is provided.
Mr. Zembylas, from New York, where he is, noted that "we have recently reached a series of measures, which will be promoted through the two educational systems, with the aim of organizing specific actions."
Indicatively, the following was mentioned:
- Training of teachers on anti-racism education and peace and human rights education.
- Creating a database with good pedagogical practices and activities that can be used in the context of contacts.
- Enrichment of the educational material with literary works of the other community etc.
"But the most important measure is the creation, for the first time, of a mechanism based on which the contacts of groups of teachers and students from the two communities will be made", revealed the Greek President of the Technical Committee. He added that the relevant information of the various options that will be available to teachers and students from both communities will be done soon.
He added that some of these measures can be implemented immediately and others are longer term and will take longer. "All measures are part of our Commission's terms of reference, which is to build trust between teachers, students and parents from both communities," he concluded.
In the aftermath of the statements and objections regarding the teaching of texts by Turkish Cypriot writers in schools, the Minister of Education, Costas Kadis, wanted to shed light on how their introduction came about.
First, he explained that the specific texts were selected by the scientific committee of the syllabus for literature (chaired by Nikos Orfanidis), reminding that a relevant committee has been appointed for each subject.
He clarified that this is additional supporting material that teachers can use and that the teaching of these texts is optional. In other words, it is up to each philologist to decide or select texts from the relevant material. Mr. Kadis also noted that Turkish Cypriot texts had been included in schools in the past.
Indeed, a simple search of the ministry's archives shows that in 2008 and 2009, in the context of the stated goal of cultivating a culture of peaceful coexistence, several poems and texts by Turkish writers were given to schools.
What are the texts per class
The relevant instructions of the Ministry of Education for the course of Literature provide the following: “From the school year 2016-17 will be included in the curricula of Literature and texts of Turkish Cypriot writers translated into Greek, as defined below:
- Inclusion of short stories from the anthology short stories by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, Nicosia, Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education 2013, in the high school literature programs of Gymnasium and Lyceum.
- Inclusion of T / C poems in the Lyceum curricula ".
In more detail:
Α 'Γυμνασίου
In the thematic section "Children - school years", subsection The Eden of childhood: Ozden Selenge, "The mosaic of life".
XNUMXnd Gymnasium
In the thematic section "Literature and Ecology", subsection People and Animals: Hikmet Afif Mapolar, "The octopus fishing".
XNUMXrd Gymnasium
In the thematic section "My place and the people", subsection The intersection of 1974 - From the point of view of today: Gürkan Ulutskan, "The Achna quartet".
In the thematic section "Literature and adolescence", subsection The erotic awakening and the formation of identity: Mehmet Kansu, "The purple hydrangeas and Lea".
XNUMXnd Lyceum (Common Body)
Numan Ali Levent, "Bride Wanted".
Ali Nesim, "How a people is governed".
Taner Baybars, "Letter to Homeland".
Jenan Selçuk, "Karpasia".
Note: The short stories and poems that are part of the Literature of the XNUMXnd Lyceum can be utilized both in the course of Literature of the XNUMXst Lyceum and in the course of Literature of the XNUMXnd and XNUMXrd Lyceum.
Philologists are divided over the T / C texts
On the occasion of the placement of two short stories and two poems by Turkish authors in the texts of utilization and co-examination of the XNUMXnd Grade of High School, Valentina Salte, secretary general of OELMEK and a member of the Association of Philologists (SEKF), spoke about the role that philologists play. He did not fail, as a teacher, to comment on the great consequences of literature on the psyche and spirit of the students. As OELMEK does not yet have an official position, Ms. Salte mentioned that I was excluded from the objection of SEKF regarding the amount of teaching material of the texts in proportion to the teaching time.
As Ms. Salte described, "The material that has been collected is very large. It consists of almost 24 texts from the Greek anthology and about four from the contemporary-post-war Cypriot literature. In combination with the above, there are also the co-reading texts, which belong to the optional material, where all four of the T / C authors belong. Several different views have been heard about the origin of these texts. Two prevail. The first considers them innocent and part of foreign literature. The second is the concern that the texts raise a socially sensitive issue. "
Ms. Salte did not fail to mention the position of the SECF on literature, even if it has T / C roots: "For us, as the SECF, what matters is the literary value of the texts in combination that they will not be political bodies expediency and do not guide children. And for this reason, the Ministry of Education must clarify what it seeks with the inclusion of T / C literature. Furthermore, our goal is to enrich the students' vocabulary through literature, to help them develop their critical thinking as well as other skills, in order to create tomorrow's citizens with sensibilities ".
Source: Liberal