Do not sacrifice the milk project to this incident

For years, we raised our children with wheat and with food containing flour. We did not make them drink milk.

We raised an undersized generation. You can see the difference by just looking at the faces of the young in rich countries. The main reason is milk.

For this reason I am among those who applaud the milk drinking campaign in schools.
It was an extremely correct move, a very appropriate one.

What happened recently was a road accident.

Seven million children drank milk and among them nearly 2,000 of them fell sick. Some of them were sick because of allergies, some from bad milk and some because of a reaction cause because their bodies were not used to milk.

That’s possible. The situation here does not call for panic. Don’t let the coverage in the media mislead you. Because we were also in shock, we might have given the story a wider coverage than it deserved.
Now, the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education have particularly important tasks. They should not be intimidated by negative coverage. On the contrary, they should increase controls and make this project survive. No matter what others say, they should continue with courage and not cut off the children’s milk.

The PM might not know everything
The debate on the privatization of State Theaters is about to get out of control. It coincided with an angry moment by the prime minister and then all hell broke loose when he said, “I will privatize you and then you will see.”

This reaction of Erdoğan was immediately applauded. However, at this stage, the prime minister should not be encouraged. On the contrary, he should be calmed down.

Within the cabinet, it is only the Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay who keeps his distance.
 
Prime ministers are not people who know everything correctly.

They too can be mistaken. They too can take exaggerated and unnecessary steps. What is important is that the people around them should be able to stand firm. Instead of applauding everything said they should show him what is right.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen like this here in Turkey. They keep applauding thinking, “Is it up to me? Let somebody else tell him. Let me not get myself into trouble now.”

Günay is a courageous and exceptional minister. I’m waiting in curiosity. Will he be able to convince the prime minister again this time and prevent the incident from further getting out of control?

Communication problem in education ministry
There is a serious communication problem in the Education Ministry that has been going on for a while. It somewhat has not been solved. It started with what is called the 3x4.

This was publicized with the prime minister’s speech. Nobody could understand what was what. After quite a while, Education Minister Ömer Dinçer took control of the situation and started explaining the preparations. It was then revealed that many articles were not yet confirmed but were being referred to as if they had been decided upon.

Now, the same situation goes for new arrangements for schools. Why are the classes shortened? Why is it made easier to pass classes? What does it mean that marriages are allowed in high schools?

The Education Ministry, which is a deep rooted institution, cannot just make changes out of the blue. There surely must be justifications for all of them, but we do not know yet. When the public is not adequately informed, then unnecessary debates are created. As a matter of fact, the text that was circling around happened to be a draft that was sent to relevant institutions and nongovernmental organizations for their views.

Unless this communication problem is solved, we will continue to experience the same confusion.