Ministry of Education includes cyberbullying in Turkish curriculum
National Education Minister Yusuf Tekin poses with primary students in Balıkesir, Türkiye, Nov. 29, 2023. (IHA Photo)

The course, which includes a 72-hour curriculum at each level in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades of secondary school, was included in the scope of elective courses in the 2023-2024 academic year



The Ministry of National Education announced that it included cyberbullying and peer bullying in elective courses in secondary schools within the scope of "school-based social responsibility activities" Wednesday.

According to information received from Ministry of Education officials, the curriculum of the "school-based social responsibility studies" course prepared by the General Directorate of Basic Education of the Ministry of National Education was approved by the Board of Education.

The course, which includes a 72-hour curriculum at each level in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades of secondary school, was included in the scope of elective courses in the 2023-2024 academic year.

The course curriculum aims to provide students with social sensitivity and a sense of responsibility and to raise awareness of social problems.

The curriculum includes content that will enable students to understand social responsibilities and create interactive educational environments that will help students develop not only theoretical knowledge but also daily life skills.

The course's curriculum for sixth graders consisted of the units "social responsibility," "creating social awareness," "social values ​​and morality," "environment and sustainability," "social health" and "social assistance."

In the course, emphasis was placed on practical gains, as well as theory at advanced levels. In addition to the existing units, the "community service and volunteering" unit will be taught in the seventh grade and the "social entrepreneurship and innovation" and "overview of global problems" units will be taught in the eighth grade.

In the "social responsibility" unit, the concepts of volunteering, empathy, altruism, social awareness, sustainability, social benefit and social entrepreneurship will be emphasized.

Students will be expected to design a social assistance project within the scope of social cooperation and solidarity, implement their projects and then evaluate them in terms of social benefit.

In the "Creating Social Awareness" unit, students will be able to raise awareness of the social problems around them.

In this course, students will investigate social responsibility activities in their immediate surroundings.

At upper levels, students will design projects that will also use mass media for social awareness. The project will be expected to contribute to social awareness through campaigns and events.

In the "Social Values ​​and Morality" unit, social values, ethics, morality and social problems will be taught and ways to deal with digital violence such as peer bullying, digital security, digital addiction, cyberstalking, cyber fraud, cyber threat, cyberbullying, cyber harassment and cyber abuse will be taught.

In the course of social values ​​in social integration, the contribution of love, respect, equality, truthfulness, diligence, compassion and mercy to social life will be emphasized. While the basic values ​​and moral principles of social responsibility will be defined and explained.

In the "Environment and Sustainability" unit, students will be able to recognize environmental problems and propose sustainable solutions to these problems.

At upper levels, students will be enabled to develop projects that will produce solutions to environmental problems and evaluate the project results in terms of sustainability. Students, who will design projects for environmental awareness with their friends, will also prepare an implementation plan for this.

In the "Social Health" unit, students will be taught the relationship between nutrition, hygiene, addiction and health, and to make inferences about healthy aging.

In the "Community Service and Volunteering" course, students will be taught the individual and social importance of volunteering in community services, to evaluate the impact of technology in social responsibility studies and to research projects on the subject. The course will include concepts such as community service, volunteering, individual development and social change, and will focus on the concepts of self-esteem, self-confidence and life satisfaction.

In the "Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation" course, students will be enabled to develop creative ideas by determining the similarities and differences between the concepts of social entrepreneurship and social innovation.

In the course, students will generate new ideas in the field of social innovation and will be encouraged to produce new solutions to problems aimed at improving the environment in which they live.

In the "View of Global Problems" unit, global problems will be defined and problems such as poverty, hunger, migration, disasters, epidemics, climate change and endangered creatures will be emphasized.

Students will be enabled to develop suggestions that can provide solutions to global problems. In the lessons, the concept of "twin transformation" will be particularly emphasized and projects carried out on an international scale will be examined.