While the low wages that teachers receive for additional lessons attracted criticism, Conscious Teachers Association (ÖĞ-DER) Chairman Numan Gökmen stated that even a toast could not be purchased with additional lesson fees.
Anatolian Education Union (AES) Chairman Mehmet Alper Öğretici underlined that additional lesson fees should be at least 150 TL.
"Educators Union (Türk-Eğitim-Sen) also announced that it had launched a signature campaign regarding the issue.
"Material and moral problems in the field of education still continue. While the problems are waiting for solutions and the necessary steps are not taken, teachers continue to express their demands to solve the problems," Öğretici said.
Reacting to the low additional lesson fees, Conscious Teachers Association (ÖĞ-DER) Chairman Numan Gökmen stated that the low additional lesson fees victimize both paid and permanent teachers.
Anatolian Education Union (AES) Chairman Mehmet Alper Öğretici underlined that the cost of a 1-hour lesson cannot be 60 TL.
ADDITIONAL COURSE FEES SHOULD BE REGULATED BY A LAW
Pointing out that the additional course fees increased to 60 TL with the recent increases, Gökmen stated that the increase rates remained small as the incremental increase did not affect the coefficients.
"Since additional course fees remained low, fees for support courses remained relatively affordable. Additional course fees will not be the same as before, as it will enter the tax bracket. Especially the additional course fees need to be corrected with a bag of laws. There is a need for a regulation regarding these wages, in which the salaries of paid teachers are determined and they are given as additional income to our teachers," Gökmen said.
“ONE HOUR OF WORK EFFORT CANNOT BE 60 LIRA”
Pointing out that the real increases are high despite the increases given below the TUIK inflation for years, AES Chairman Mehmet Alper Öğretici stated that the additional course fees have been affected by this situation and melted away.
"In a period when the price of one liter of gasoline and diesel exceeds 30 TL, and transportation and food costs are covered out of pocket, an hour's labor of teachers cannot be worth 60 TL! Unfortunately, the 7th Term Collective Agreement, which was recently completed, did not yield any results regarding this issue either. Giving importance to education starts with valuing the teacher. Teachers' wages should be increased above the poverty line, and additional lesson fees should be at least 150 TL in today's conditions," Öğretici added.
THE UNION LAUNCHES A SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN WITH AN INCREASE REQUEST
Regarding the additional course fees, Educatorts Union (Türk-Egitim-Sen) states that the additional course fee payment coefficients included in Article 176 of the Civil Servants Law No. 657, which regulates the coefficients used in additional course fee payments, are from 140 to 280 for daytime education and from 140 to 280 for night education. It announced that it has started a signature campaign all over Turkey with the demand to increase it from 150 to 300.