PIKTES teachers demand salary improvements: '70 percent of our salary goes to rent'

Hazal Güven - 12punto.com.tr

The practice known as PIKTES, which stands for the Project for Supporting the Integration of Syrian Children into the Turkish Education System, first began in 2016. Within the scope of the project, PIKTES teachers were assigned to the project initiated to ensure that Syrian children under temporary protection could access education. 

Considered under the status of 'public worker,' PIKTES teachers have fallen behind their colleagues in terms of salary. Considering the rising cost of living in recent years, making a living has become the primary problem for teachers working within the scope of the project. 

A teacher working on the project explained their grievances to 12punto. 

For those who do not know about the project, could you tell us a little about its general outlines? 

“We started the project in December 2016. Afterward, they sent us to Temporary Education Centers. We made our preferences based on our KPSS (Public Personnel Selection Examination) scores. All of the Temporary Education Centers consisted of Syrian students, and they were receiving education in Arabic. We were only teaching Turkish classes, like branch teachers. That system did not progress much, and they closed the temporary education centers. They assigned us to regular public schools. While making the assignments, we again made preferences based on our 2016 KPSS scores. Problems were experienced here as well. There was no classroom allocated to us in the schools we went to. While some teachers taught in regular classrooms, some of us had to teach in small areas that could be called 'under the stairs.' Even though years have passed, this situation still continues in some places. In other words, some teachers cannot teach in a normal classroom environment. They teach with notebooks and books, without a smart board. From that time to this, these things have still not changed.” 

Besides what you have listed, what kind of problems do PIKTES teachers experience? 

“Since this process began, we have been subject to mandatory preferences every year. For example, in Istanbul, preferences are made according to the 2016 KPSS score. Those with high scores can go to the schools they want. But for those with low scores, they can be assigned to very distant places. There is a constant situation of relocation. This is not the same in every province. For example, there is no such system in Ankara. Relocation is not done every year. Especially in Istanbul, when a school change is made, it may also be necessary to change houses. It is a big city. Considering the rents in Istanbul, this also strains people.”

So, the most fundamental problem is financial concerns… 

“When we first started the job, we were receiving a salary equivalent to the gross salary and additional course fees of a civil servant who was doing primary school teaching in the same period as us. Currently, our collective bargaining agreement has not been signed yet, but if we take last year as an example, there is a difference of about 10 thousand TL between us in total. 

In 2017, when the minimum wage was around 1,400 TL, we were receiving a salary in the range of 3,500-4,000. A figure corresponding to almost three times that. Currently, the minimum wage is 22,104 TL. We are currently receiving a salary of around 40 thousand, which is one and a half times the minimum wage.”

Well, you are considered a 'public worker.' But you are an educator. What is the difference from civil servant teachers? 

“Almost 9 years have passed since 2016. In the meetings we held, we asked for permanent staff status. That is, we asked them to move us from worker status to civil servant status. They told us, 'We will not victimize you; when the project ends, we will take you into the civil servant staff.' 9 years have passed, and no steps have been taken regarding this. We can continue in this project, that is not a problem, but they need to guarantee that we will get permanent staff status when the project ends. In recent months, the Teaching Profession Law passed through the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey). This clause could have been added there. Another fundamental problem of ours is this uncertainty. 

PIKTES teachers have been providing education to foreign national students in public schools or state-affiliated places for 9 years. Whatever work a teacher with normal civil servant status does, we do that same work. But for example, they have additional course fees, there are courses granted to them by the Ministry of National Education, and they have the right to take part in exams. None of these have been granted to us. They say we are in worker status. We cannot benefit from these rights. Both in terms of personal rights and financially, we are behind our colleagues who do similar work.”

Do you have a union struggle? 

“When we first started the project, we were not having much financial trouble. The salary we received was both close to teachers doing similar work and an amount that we could continue our lives with. But over time, we fell behind financially, and frankly, we started looking for a solution. Because we did not receive any raises for 3 years. We continued to work with the amount we first started with. Afterward, we learned that we had the status of public worker and that we had union rights. In fact, when we learned this, intimidation policies were applied by saying 'you cannot be unionized.' With the leadership of some of our friends, we obtained this right and became members of the Koop-Is Union affiliated with Turk-Is. We were not directly included in the collective bargaining agreement. A separate clause was added for us. For example, there is a statement in the collective bargaining agreement under the bonus heading that a 30-day bonus will be received. At first, we did not receive any bonuses at all. Later, it was given as 10+10 20, 20+20 40. Now, with the new collective bargaining agreement to be made, we will be entitled to receive bonuses in the form of 30+30. This means a loss for us that covers years. While workers benefiting from the same collective bargaining agreement receive a total of 60 days of bonuses, we have always lagged behind. We achieved this by applying pressure on the union and the office. 

We are currently in the collective bargaining agreement process. However, because the process is prolonged, we could not receive our salary with a raise, which we should have normally received starting from January. Worse, we do not know when it will be signed.” 

What are your demands? 

“We currently have two demands. The improvement of our salary and the official signing of the promise that we will be taken into permanent staff status at the end of the project or at any point. We know that this will not happen unless we fight. Because the union we are affiliated with does not take a step unless we pressure the union. In general, the situation of public workers in Turkey is obvious. We are also part of that total, and the salary we receive is not enough for us to continue our lives. For example, 60-70 percent of the salary of friends working in Istanbul goes to rent. Nothing is left over.”

News Source: Hazal Güven