“Teacher Union Action Discussed in Parliament”
The Assembly of the Republic in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus saw various laws and amendments presented and discussed in its General Assembly recently. The Election and Referendum (Amendment) Law Proposal, the Teachers (Amendment) Law Draft, and the Financial Assistance and Preparedness (Amendment) Bill for Earthquake and Other Natural Disasters were presented among others. Prior to this, CTP Deputy Erkut Şahali argued that the government was “faking death” and the urgency around the bill was “lack of action.” He also expressed concern about the committee to discuss the amendment bill being wrong. The CTP Chairman Tufan Erhürman, expressed his concerns on the Teachers (Amendment) Bill. Stating that the bill had been sent to Parliament in August but had only just been put to the committee during the exam period; he argued that discussions should have been held earlier. Erhürman accused the Prime Minister Ünal Üstel of intervening with the committee work and believed that this was an attempt to trample the reputation of the teacher in the country. The Minister of National Education Nazım Çavuşoğlu responded by stating that discussions on the amendment of the law had been ongoing for a long time. He said that building projects and providing teachers with technological equipment had been occurring as a priority. He challenged accusations that the teachers were being discredited and that there was a shameful lack of consultation on the part of the government.
