Do you hear the voice of teachers?

November 24 is Teachers' Day. It is the anniversary of the day our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was granted the title of 'Head Teacher' (Başöğretmen). I celebrate the Teachers' Day of all our teachers, especially our Head Teacher Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

This year, teachers are celebrating their day while facing many problems. These include economic issues, problems regarding the professional law and status, results in interview and appointment processes that are not based on merit, issues with discipline and working conditions, and negative aspects concerning personal rights.

A SURVEY THAT SAYS A LOT

On November 21, I was at a press conference in Istanbul held by the Hürriyetçi Education Union (Hürriyetçi Eğitim Sendikası), which was founded a short time ago and where education workers are organized. Levent Kuruoğlu, Chairman of the Hürriyetçi Education Union, announced the results of the survey they conducted on the "Determination of the Economic Situation and Expectations of Education Workers." The results of the survey, which was conducted with a total of 7,593 education workers, contain striking data regarding the economic and social situation of teachers in Turkey. The situation is getting worse. Education workers have become dependent on credit cards. Just like millions of laborers in our country who have to make a living with their labor...

According to the survey, 85.6 percent of teachers are in debt, and 81 percent say they have no money left in their pockets at the end of the month. The rate of those who do extra work is 17 percent. The rate of those who say, "My economic situation is worse than before," is 86 percent. Credit and debt payments make up half of the monthly budget.

I do not want to overwhelm you with numbers, but I would like to share with you the striking data from the survey announced by Hürriyetçi Education Union Chairman Levent Kuruoğlu in order to see the picture more clearly:

50.9 percent of their salaries go to credit/debt payments, 33.3 percent to food expenses, 9.7 percent to rent payments, 2.7 percent to education expenses, and 2.4 percent to bills.

61 percent state that they pay their credit card debt regularly, 24.1 percent that they can only pay the minimum amount, and 11.4 percent that they cannot pay regularly. The expenditure item that takes up the most space in the monthly budget is credit/debt payments with 50.9 percent, followed by food expenses at 33.3 percent, rent payments at 9.7 percent, education expenses at 2.7 percent, and bills at 2.4 percent.

90.1 percent of education workers do not have the opportunity to save money with the salary they receive.

96.8 percent state that the salary they receive negatively affects their vacation plans, 90 percent say it has a negative impact on their decision to marry/marry off their children, and 85.9 percent express that the salary they receive negatively affects their professional motivation.

The rate of those who say that economic concerns negatively affect family relationships is 79.2 percent.

Trust in the country's economy and current inflation figures is quite low. The rate of those who believe the inflation figures announced by TUIK (Turkish Statistical Institute) is 1.2 percent.

While 74.9 percent think that the reason for price increases is the mismanagement of the economy, 11.2 percent cite insufficient domestic production, 9.2 percent cite opportunists, 1.9 percent cite the exchange rate, and 2.8 percent cite all of them as reasons.

Another striking piece of data is that the rate of those who believe the economy will get better is 57.6 percent. 76.5 percent of education workers do not believe the government will improve their economic situation.

"WE ARE FIGHTING FOR OUR PROFESSIONAL DIGNITY!"

I asked Seher Ergin, the newly elected General Secretary of the Eğitim-İş Union, where education workers are organized and which has been fighting for years, to share her views for November 24. Ergin, whom I have known for years both for her teaching and her union and professional efforts in Istanbul and Adana, said, "Unfortunately, we are experiencing a deep sadness on this meaningful day of pride, where the social value of the teaching profession is emphasized."

Reminding that Atatürk emphasized that teachers are not just individuals who transfer knowledge, but guides who will strengthen the foundations of the Republic and build a contemporary society, Ergin said, "Under his leadership, education mobilizations were launched; the teaching profession was defined at the highest level as the carrier of the values of the Republic. Today, we continue to be defenders of scientific, secular, and contemporary education on the path he showed." However, she pointed out that today, the teaching profession is being subjected to attempts to devalue, discredit, and suppress it more than ever before in our Republican history.

I am quoting the words of Eğitim-İş General Secretary Seher Ergin without comment:

"Education workers have been condemned to harsh working conditions, and their economic and social rights have been usurped. Teachers, divided by distinctions such as permanent, contracted, and paid, are practically exploited under insecure working conditions. With impositions such as the Teaching Profession Law (ÖMK), the labor, professional experience, and diplomas of teachers have been disregarded.

Teachers are struggling with the concern of making a living; they enter their classrooms not with hope and excitement, but with anxiety and sadness. These soldiers of education, forced to live on salaries below the poverty line, have become unable to even dream of retirement. Moreover, they are subjected to mobbing and pressure by the arbitrary practices of unqualified, partisan administrators, and when they seek their rights, they are threatened with investigations and exile.

'IT IS DARKENING THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY'

The curriculum moving away from secularism and the detachment of education from science is darkening not only the future of our students but also our country. Reactionary and political pressures in the education system damage the reputation of teachers in society and the quality of education. However, despite all these difficulties, teachers continue the struggle for a secular, scientific, fair, and qualified education."

Ergin also listed their demands and struggles as follows:

We demand a dignified wage for a humane life!

We want an end to discrimination among education workers!

We want paid and contracted teaching to be abolished, and secure and permanent appointments to be made!

We demand that interviews be abolished in appointments and that merit be taken as the basis!

We want our additional course fees to be increased and reflected in our retirement!

We want effective measures to be taken to prevent violence against teachers!

We demand that the education system be regulated according to scientific and objective criteria and that schools be supported with sufficient personnel!

Above all, we want our professional dignity back!"

The teacher is the most important individual of a country, a society, and the future. They are not just those who transfer knowledge, but guides who shape the future and build the bright tomorrows of society. Their problems are many. It is certainly not independent of the conditions we live in...

I wish them success in their efforts for our country, for a scientific, secular, contemporary, and free education system, for our future, and for their professional and personal rights. I once again celebrate the Teachers' Day of all education workers.