Cleaning and repair of mosques and schools left to CHP-run municipalities

While austerity measures hinder the fulfillment of basic public services, the Social Security Institution (SSK) and tax offices have placed ex officio liens on the accounts of CHP-run municipalities at the Iller Bank regarding the shares they receive from general budget revenues based on the latest census, leaving these municipalities unable to pay salaries. Although CHP-run municipalities wanted to cover these deficits by using loans from public banks, the public banks did not grant loans to them. Furthermore, CHP-run municipalities have been carrying out school repairs. Schools opened on September 1. Recently in Turkey, the government's failure to allocate a budget for cleaning services in schools as part of austerity measures has become a problem that shakes the foundations of the education system. A clean and hygienic school environment is indispensable for children to receive a healthy education. However, the current government ignores this basic need and sends neither cleaning staff nor cleaning supplies to schools. This situation deeply affects public schools in particular and puts these institutions, which already suffer from a lack of resources, into an even more difficult position. The method of some parents cleaning the schools their children attend through collective effort has not been a solution either. At this exact stage, CHP-run municipalities began to provide the necessary personnel and materials to schools. In addition, in most places where there is a need, they have started to provide school bus services to ensure that children attending school both arrive on time and to contribute to their open budgets.

Another issue is the Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs). Despite the Diyanet receiving one of the largest shares in the Turkish budget, it was observed that it does not assign cleaning staff for the cleaning of mosques and that the cleaning supplies for mosques are again provided by CHP-run municipalities. In addition, some CHP-run municipalities are also carrying out the repairs of mosques. This situation is not specific to austerity measures. CHP-run municipalities have been providing these services for a long time.

Now I ask: Who are the austerity measures for, and who benefits from them? I suppose CHP-run municipalities do not share the aid they provide to schools and mosques with the public, following the principle that the left hand should not know what the right hand gives.

The fact that CHP-run municipalities have stepped in to take on this duty reveals the inadequacy of the central government. While municipalities try to provide cleaning supplies and personnel to schools by straining their budgets, they are actually taking on a duty that the state should perform. This step can be praised as social responsibility on one hand, but on the other, it clearly shows how clogged the system is and that the state is failing to provide services to its citizens even in a field like education.

In a system where even a basic service like cleaning is not provided by the state, it would be unrealistic to expect high quality in education. A government that advocates for equal opportunity in education must first ensure that every child receives an education in a clean and safe environment. However, it appears that the policies the government implements under the name of austerity threaten even the most basic rights of children.

The government must take urgent action on this issue and provide cleaning staff and materials to schools. It should not be forgotten that EDUCATION IS NOT AN AREA TO BE SAVED ON, BUT RATHER AN AREA WHERE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE FUTURE ARE LAID.