Saliha Şen, the representative of the Honorary Qur'an Course Teachers Platform organized all over Turkey, and the accompanying delegation paid a visit to Diyanet-Sen Union Chairman Ali Yıldız. During the visit, while expressing their demands regarding the staff, they pointed out that they are trying to continue their work with many problems.
“WE WANT OUR HONORARY TEACHERS WHO HAVE WORKED FOR YEARS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE STAFF”
Expressing that they are trying to teach the Qur'an all over Turkey with very limited opportunities, Honorary Qur'an Course Teachers Platform Representative Saliha Şen underlined that they do the same job as permanent Qur'an teachers and said, “As much as we can with very limited opportunities, we're trying to do this. Unfortunately, we have many problems in terms of wages, permissions and other issues. Although we do the same job and give the same effort as our staff members, unfortunately we cannot benefit from many of the rights they enjoy. Our professional qualification certificate is obtained from Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) exams. We have a requirement to get a certain score and be interviewed. Many of our honorary teachers are also hafiz (who memorized whole Qur’an). We want to do our work that we have been working hard for a long time in a way that we get the reward of our labor. Contracted people were recruited, deputy imams were recruited. We want our honorary professors, who have devoted themselves to this job for so many years, to be included in the staff.”
“WE WILL CONTINUE OUR WORK UNTIL YOU ARE GRANTED AS STAFF”
Noting that Diyanet-Sen Union has been working on recruiting honorary and substitute teachers since the day it was founded, Diyanet-Sen Union Chairman Ali Yıldız, reminding that recruitments were made on various dates, said, “After Diyanet-Sen Union took the authority in 2004, that time our late President Ahmet Yıldız took our Honorary Hodjas with him to the first meeting with Prime Minister and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and as a result of the meeting, our honorary and substitute teachers were recruited. We are aware of your problems. We sincerely want your effort to be rewarded. Our union has supported our honorary Qur'an course instructors, who have been working with devotion despite not being appointed for various reasons for years, and took initiatives in this regard by bringing the issue of appointments and raising their wages to the collective agreement, Public Procurement Authority (KİK) and Public Personnel Consultation Board (KPDK). As the authorized union, we have always done and will continue to do our part to improve your wages, your social rights and to be recruited. We are with you and we will continue to voice your staff request through the press, social media, and in our meetings with politicians and institution officials until you are assigned as a staff.”