 Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu. AA photo |
Fourteen school principals in the Silvan district of the Southeast province of Diyarbakır have resigned in protest after being required to employ minimum-wage janitorial staff without paying for the employees’ social insurance premiums.
Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu said the ministry spared an appropriation for the first time in 2010, but the Special Provincial Administration distributed this amount. Many schools in Turkey do not receive appropriations, and must turn to inventive or alternative solutions. Principals who face many obligations and no resources must often make the impossible happen.
“The parent associations used to handle these issues. For the first time, we provided a budget of 50 million Turkish Liras in 2010 and 40 million liras for the first three months of this year. We’ve learned that the schools in Silvan weren’t appointed maintenance staff. I don’t consider this a negative attitude. We accepted the resignations,” said Çubukçu.
The Education and Science Personnel Union, or Eğitim-Sen, conducted a poll of 469 people employed in the education field and found that 78 percent of the schools experienced shortages of either electricity or water. Furthermore, 60 percent of schools reported unsanitary conditions, 56 percent have problems with toilets, and 53 percent have classroom maintenance problems. Half of schools were reported to have structural damage.
There is not a permanent janitorial employee in every school. Even in schools able to afford funding for maintenance staff, there are only one or two employees for the building. Maintenance staff generally receive minimum wage, and their social insurance is paid by the school administration. The cost of this reaches to billions of liras nationwide. In an effort to not increase expenses, schools have made maintenance staff work at low wages and without social insurance.
In Diyarbakır’s Silvan district, where there are 123 schools, 14 principals resigned to speak out about the lack of job security for their maintenance staff. Diyarbakır Eğitim-Sen head Abdullah Karahan said they resigned because employing people without social security is wrong.
“On the one hand, they do not give resources and caretakers. On the other hand, they fine the principals for making maintenance staff work without insurance. Our friends in Silvan reported this situation continually [to authorities]. However, there was no solution. They resigned to point out this impossible situation. Otherwise, why would they make their dedicated employees work without social security,” said Karahan.
The schools whose principals resigned are Profilo Primary School, Gazi Primary School, Silvan Primary School, Fevzi Çakmak Primary School, Vatan Primary School, Kepolu Primary School, Yüzüncü Yıl Primary School, Selahaddin Eyyubi Primary School, Eşme Köy Primary School, Tokluca Primary School, Occupational Education and Technical Education Center, İMKB High Cchool, Çatakköprü Primary School, Malabadi Primary School and Milli Egemenlik Primary School.
Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu said the ministry spared an appropriation for the first time in 2010, but the Special Provincial Administration distributed this amount. Many schools in Turkey do not receive appropriations, and must turn to inventive or alternative solutions. Principals who face many obligations and no resources must often make the impossible happen.
“The parent associations used to handle these issues. For the first time, we provided a budget of 50 million Turkish Liras in 2010 and 40 million liras for the first three months of this year. We’ve learned that the schools in Silvan weren’t appointed maintenance staff. I don’t consider this a negative attitude. We accepted the resignations,” said Çubukçu.
The Education and Science Personnel Union, or Eğitim-Sen, conducted a poll of 469 people employed in the education field and found that 78 percent of the schools experienced shortages of either electricity or water. Furthermore, 60 percent of schools reported unsanitary conditions, 56 percent have problems with toilets, and 53 percent have classroom maintenance problems. Half of schools were reported to have structural damage.
There is not a permanent janitorial employee in every school. Even in schools able to afford funding for maintenance staff, there are only one or two employees for the building. Maintenance staff generally receive minimum wage, and their social insurance is paid by the school administration. The cost of this reaches to billions of liras nationwide. In an effort to not increase expenses, schools have made maintenance staff work at low wages and without social insurance.
In Diyarbakır’s Silvan district, where there are 123 schools, 14 principals resigned to speak out about the lack of job security for their maintenance staff. Diyarbakır Eğitim-Sen head Abdullah Karahan said they resigned because employing people without social security is wrong.
“On the one hand, they do not give resources and caretakers. On the other hand, they fine the principals for making maintenance staff work without insurance. Our friends in Silvan reported this situation continually [to authorities]. However, there was no solution. They resigned to point out this impossible situation. Otherwise, why would they make their dedicated employees work without social security,” said Karahan.
The schools whose principals resigned are Profilo Primary School, Gazi Primary School, Silvan Primary School, Fevzi Çakmak Primary School, Vatan Primary School, Kepolu Primary School, Yüzüncü Yıl Primary School, Selahaddin Eyyubi Primary School, Eşme Köy Primary School, Tokluca Primary School, Occupational Education and Technical Education Center, İMKB High Cchool, Çatakköprü Primary School, Malabadi Primary School and Milli Egemenlik Primary School.
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