Turkey’s Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim-Sen) demonstrated in their report for the April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day that children face many problems in every aspect of life, especially in terms of education, child labour, and abuse.
According to the report, the total number of child workers has reached 2 million by 2018. The number of child workers between the ages 15 and 17 was 601,000 in 2012, and it became 709,000 in 2016. It was also reported that 8 in every 10 child workers work informally.
Although Turkey's Labour Law Article 71 apparently prohibits the employment of children who have not completed the age of 15, the number of child workers under 15 is still not clear.
According to the Eğitim-Sen report, three children, who were employed as farm labourers, were killed in 2018.
TURKEY HAS BECOME THE 3RD COUNTRY WORLDWIDE ON CHILD ABUSE
The report also points out that child sexual abuse has increased 10 times since. It is also noted that 482,908 children were married by the state’s sanction in the last 10 years, and 142,298 children gave birth in the past 6 years. The report shows that Turkey has become the 3rd country worldwide in child abuse.
On average, 8,000 children are sexually abused each year, while 17,000 child abuse cases are filed in court. Suspects are not convicted in 45 percent of those cases.
LOWER SCHOOLING RATE AMONG GIRLS
While the number of the Islamic vocational high-schools was 450 in 2002, when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, it has reached 1408 in 2017. Girls comprise 97% of the children who were not able to continue their education due to marriage. It is also shown in the report that the educational curricula have been “updated” 176 times in total.
Explaining that 1/3 of the educational institutions in Turkey operate under various Islamic sects, the report shows that 224.000 students live in dormitories connected to these sects.
The number of the school-age children who fled from Syria to Turkey, on the other hand, is now 850,000, and more than 380,000 of them have not attended school.
