Turkish teachers weigh in on new training 'academy'

As Turkey celebrates Teachers' Day on Nov. 24, uncertainty over a proposed paid apprenticeship and "Teachers Academy" has set tongues wagging among the country's almost 900,000 educators.

Under the current system, prospective teachers are trained at a university education faculty for four years and do an apprenticeship in the final year. They later sit for a final exam to be appointed to state schools.

During their first year of employment, they are defined as "trainee" teachers by law, but not in practical terms.

However, under the new proposed scheme, a four-month paid apprenticeship may become compulsory.

Following this school-based placement, teachers will then go to an additional three-month "Teachers Academy" from June to August, "which will help them to make progress and develop their abilities," Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said in October.

However, reactions from teachers across the country have been mixed.

"I cannot really understand the reason for such an academy," said Alime Atasagun, 26, who has been teaching literature in a state high school in Istanbul for three years.

She is opposed to any extra training programs for teachers.

"A graduate of an education faculty has already proven that he or she is qualified to teach following four years' compulsory education and examinations at university," she said.

"For me, it was not a time of being guided by an experienced colleague. I was alone in the classroom teaching and trying to teach [students] better," she said, recalling the first year of her career.

"It is the nature of teaching. You find a way of your own, which fits your students best," she added.

With the new proposals, however, each newly appointed...