Teacher ‘should be reinstated’
A GÜZELYURT primary school teacher suspended over allegations of child “abuse” should be reinstated, a group of dismayed parents have demanded.
They signed a petition expressing their “solidarity” with Zihni Özçetiner who was “removed from his post” last week by Education Ministry chiefs pending the outcome of an investigation.
The move comes after a separate group of around 50 parents of six- and seven-year-olds at the Barış Primary School, where Mr Özçetiner works for two days a week, had complained to the Education Ministry and police about him.
They claimed that he had thrown a whiteboard eraser at a child’s face, pulled another’s hair and forced pupils to do push-ups with his foot on their backs as punishment. They said their children were “repeatedly” coming home with complaints about the teacher.
Mr Özçetiner strenuously denied the claims, saying that all he had ever done to maintain discipline in an “illegal combined class of 60” was to “raise my voice”.
He said it had been “interesting” that the accusations had surfaced on a day when he was not present at the Barış school.
Members of the parent-teacher association (PTA) at Serhatköy Primary School, where Mr Özçetiner works on the other days of the week, said in their petition to the Primary Education Department that the allegations did “not reflect reality”.
PTA head Hüseyin Dağlı said in a statement on behalf of the Serhatköy parents: “We . . . would like to express our view that we do not agree with the recent allegations, both in the press and on social media, against . . . Zihni Özçetiner.
“We would also like to express our appreciation for his efforts in his post.”