Teachers’ trade union applies for alcohol classes to be elective in vocational high schools

An education sector trade union has applied to Turkey’s Education Ministry to make liquor service classes, which are taught in vocational high schools specializing in hotel management and tourism, an elective course.

Eğitim-Bir-Sen, a union known for its generally conservative views, lodged a petition to the Education Ministry’s Council on Education and Morality to change the alcoholic beverages service class from mandatory to elective.

The liquor service class is currently mandatory in the “bar” and “service” sections of the 11th and 12th grades of vocational high schools that specialize in hotel management and tourism.

While issuing the petition, Eğitim-Bir-Sen Deputy Chairman Ahmet Özer and Vice Chairman Ramazan Çakırcı complained that the courses introduced underage youths to alcohol.

“In a country where even cigarette sales are forbidden to children under the age of 18, [the classes] introduce liquor to children and oblige them to drink what they have prepared. This fits neither the laws nor the regulations. We demand that the class is only taught upon request,” said Özer.  

Eğitim-Bir-Sen had previously collected 12.3 million signatures for a petition calling for the lifting of the headscarf ban on public workers, a campaign that resulted in a government decree changing the regulation on the dress code in public schools. The amendment allows girls as young as 10 years old to attend classes wearing headscarves, though also bans students from wearing make-up or having tattoos and piercings.

Eğitim-Bir-Sen has also previously demanded the abolition of mixed-sex education, and expressed its discomfort with the compulsory wearing of ties for male public officials.

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