The education and training season has entered a midterm break. A study conducted by the Public Employees Union of Turkey's Education, Training and Science Services Branch (Türk-Egitim-Sen) revealed the state of the education system. The Ministry of National Education (MEB), which is trying to solve the teacher shortage with ‘dressing treatments’, is trying to meet the teacher shortage with paid teachers working with low wages. According to the research conducted by Türk-Egitim-Sen, it was stated that 85,513 paid teachers were appointed in Turkey in 2021, and it was noteworthy that 11.000 of these teachers were graduated from a 2-year university.
As new problems come to the fore every day in the field of education and existing problems become chronic, the Ministry of National Education is trying to solve the problems with "dressing treatments". The fact of paid teaching was revealed with the research, which was implemented against the teacher shortage and shared data on paid teachers who were employed at half the minimum wage. The research, which is carried out regularly every year by Türk-Egitim-Sen and which determines the number of paid teachers in Turkey and presents it to the public, revealed that as of 2021, 85,513 paid teachers were appointed in 79 provinces. It was noteworthy that 11,000 of these teachers were graduated from a 2-year university.
16K INCREASE COMPARED TO THE LAST YEAR
In the research, it was stated that the number of paid teachers reached as a result of the data from 79 provincial governors, while the number of paid teachers reached 85,513. Reminding that there were 69,326 paid teachers as a result of the data from 81 provinces in the previous year's research, it was stated that there was an increase of 16,187 in the number of paid teachers by 2021.
MOST PAID TEACHER IN ISTANBUL
According to the provinces, Istanbul leads the way in the number of paid teachers with 25,469 teachers, followed by Ankara with 5,019 teachers, Bursa with 3,881, Şanlıurfa with 3,217, İzmir with 3,303. Kocaeli with 1,285, Gaziantep with 2,447, Antalya with 1,840, Tekirdağ with 1,610, Diyarbakır with 1,562, Mersin with 1,370, Hatay with 1,265, Manisa with 1,184, Kahramanmaraş with 1,118 and Mardin is following with 1,111 teachers.
THERE ARE TOTAL OF 11,395 ASSOCIATE GRADUATE TEACHERS IN 79 CITIES
According to the research, when the education status of paid teachers is examined, remarkable data are reached, while 34,445 of the 85,513 paid teachers working in 79 provinces are from the faculty of education, 42,075 are undergraduate, 8,993 are graduates of an associate degree, that is, a 2-year university. In addition to these, people who have an associate degree, that is, a 2-year university degree, can be employed as teachers in classroom teaching for the mentally, visually and hearing-impaired, which requires special expertise, while the number of paid teachers who have an associate degree in these classes is 2,402. The total of those who have been employed as a paid teacher as an associate degree graduate, that is, a 2-year university graduate, has thus increased to 11,395.
PAID TEACHERS SHOULD BE WORKED WITH THE TITLE OF SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS
Emphasizing that the low wage policy in paid teaching is also not an acceptable situation, Geylan said, “All of these friends of mine work with a salary equal to half the minimum wage. This situation is not compatible with the dignity of teaching service. This exploitation of labor must be ended, and all our teachers must be employed at wages worthy of the dignity of the profession and human dignity. In addition, it is not correct to refer to teaching, which is a profession of specialization, with the title of 'paid'. In this regard, the Ministry of National Education should develop measures and employ these teachers, who are assigned in essential situations, with the title of ‘Substitute Teacher' based on the Civil Servants Law No. 657.”
NO SAVINGS POSSIBLE ON EDUCATION, APPOINTMENTS MUST BE MADE
Making a statement about the research, Türk Eğitim-Sen President Talip Geylan said that with the start of face-to-face education, the number of paid teachers increased. Noting that there has been a serious increase, he stated that in order to solve the problem, as many appointments as the number of paid teachers should be made, “It should not be forgotten that there is no savings in education possible. The investment we will make in education and the resources we will allocate are a matter that directly builds the future of our country. The main element and carrier of education is the teacher. If you do not have a teacher in the classroom, other investments you will make in education will not make much sense. Therefore, the primary investment to be made in education and the primary measure to be taken, should be to eliminate the teacher shortage,” he added.