One meal removed in İzmir citing 'austerity measures'!

As part of 'austerity measures,' the weekend lunch for students staying in the dormitory at Bergama Cumhuriyet Anatolian High School has been removed. According to a report in BirGün, the school administration at the Cumhuriyet Anatolian High School dormitory in Bergama signed a decision to remove lunch on Saturdays and Sundays under the scope of 'austerity measures.' 

In a schedule sent to dormitory staff by School Principal Yunus Aydoğan and Vice Principal Mustafa Karaarslan, it was stated that children would be provided with one less meal on weekends. 

The breakfast hours were extended to 7:45-11:30 on Saturday and 9:00-11:30 on Sunday, effectively eliminating the lunch meal. Under this arrangement, students who have breakfast at 8:00 AM and attend private tutoring centers will remain hungry until the evening because they cannot get lunch.

School Principal Yunus Aydoğan stated in a message sent via WhatsApp: "Dear friends, in the name of austerity measures and preventing waste, the breakfast hours have been extended on weekends and lunch has been removed. For your information."

The Bergama branch of Veli-Der reacted sharply to this practice by the school administration. In a statement noting that this decision violates children's fundamental right to nutrition, the association said, “We are facing a mentality that views the most fundamental right of our children, the right to nutrition, as waste and claims that savings should be made from this right. We ask those who implemented this decision and the District Director of National Education who approved it: Do you cut a meal for your own children to save money?”

'LUNCH IS NOT WASTE'

Veli-Der included the following statements in its announcement: 

"You cannot cut a meal for children, the vast majority of whom come from rural settlements and do not have the means to even buy a sandwich. In fact, instead of cutting a meal for these children who are in their developmental age, you should be providing them with snacks. Lunch is not waste. If you want to see waste, look at the palace tables. If you want to see waste, look at the official vehicles of state officials/bureaucrats from the lowest-level manager to the highest offices. You cannot please anyone by viewing our children's most fundamental right to nutrition as waste, saying 'there is no austerity in prestige,' and removing a meal they eat under the name of 'austerity measures' to save money." 

News Source: 12punto