Economic concerns top agenda on Teachers’ Day

Education Personnel Labor Union (Eğitim-Sen) head İsmail Koncuk said a survey they conducted of 3,065 teachers shows that economic concerns seriously affect teachers’ lives, at a press conference held by the union on Monday. Fully 60.4 percent of survey participants live in rented apartments, and 70.5 percent of participants have credit card debt. Noting that economic problems negatively affect their family lives, 33.3 percent of surveyed teachers think they are unable to take good care of their families, while 21.6 percent reported almost breaking up with their spouses from teaching-related problems. Koncuk further noted that many teachers suffer from psychological problems, yet 62.7 percent stated that they love their jobs.

In another survey, conducted by the Independent Educators’ Union (BES), of 1,559 teachers, it was found that 38 percent have job-related problems, while 37 percent reported having economic problems. Stating that while people praise teachers on Teachers’ Day, they need solutions to their problems instead, Gürkan Avcı, the union’s head, said 83 percent of survey participants did not want their children to become teachers.

Turkish teachers work more than colleagues in Europe

In addition, according to a 2008 report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), teachers in Turkey work more than their colleagues in Europe. While the OECD-wide average of working hours, which is calculated by adding the hours spent on activities including class hours and preparing exams, is 1,652 yearly, the figure rises to 1,832 in Turkey. Scottish teachers had the lowest total hours, at just 1,365 each year.

The report also notes teachers’ economic situation in different countries. While teachers in Germany and the Netherlands receive between $35,000 and $70,000 annually, a teacher in Turkey makes between $14,063 and $17,515 per year.

Education minister congratulates teachers

Highlighting that the profession of teaching has never lost its importance and prestige in Turkey despite being affected by the country’s socioeconomic conditions, Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu congratulated teachers in a statement released yesterday for the holiday. While stressing that the efforts of teachers to bring new generations up well makes the profession one of the most prestigious jobs in Turkey, Çubukçu added: “As yesterday, today our teachers are the leaders of our education campaign to take Turkey to a better place. Just as the generations brought up by our teachers built up the new Turkey in the 20th century, the new generations that our teachers will bring up will place Turkey among developed countries in the 21st century.” She also said the ministry will be beside teachers for every difficulty they encounter.

In Turkey, 29,342 teachers work in pre-school education and 453,318 work in primary education, while there are 196,713 teachers in secondary education, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Female teachers outnumber male teachers in pre-school and primary education, and male teachers outnumber female teachers in secondary education. According to the data taken from the Ministry of Education, there were 32 students per classroom and 23 students per teacher in primary school and 31 students per classroom and 17 students per teacher in secondary schools, while there were 29 students per classroom and 18 per teacher in high schools and 33 students per classroom and 16 per teacher in vocational and technical high schools in academic year 2008-2009. Also, a total of 100,504 teachers, 40,861 of whom are females and 59,643 of whom are males, work as university staff.