According to The World Economic Forum, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected a disproportionate weight on teachers. The article sheds light on, not only the health risk that was imposed on teachers to keep teaching in the midst of the pandemic; but also on the detrimental effects of their mental health. In fact, 80% of teachers have declared to have known an impact on their mental health, due to the pandemic. Additionally, the transition to online teaching was expected to be made swiftly, without the understanding of the challenges this implied on teachers.
Certainly, this information would convert into adequate financial compensation, so as to match the personal cost as well as reflect the importance of the profession itself. Such a time has made clear our reliance, both as systems and individuals, on teachers. In addition, a higher salary and improved working conditions will likely attract higher-quality teachers, positively influencing students’ learning.
However, this article spells out the clear variation between lower secondary teachers’ starting salaries across OECD countries in 2021. Specifically, we find the most distinct gap between Luxembourg that is close to $80k, and Brazil that is around $15K per year. It is upon this understanding that UN agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, and the International Labour Organisation) have requested increased compensation for teachers on World Teachers’ Day, 5 October 2021
The cover photo is taken from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/more-than-80-of-teachers-say-the-pandemic-has-hurt-their-mental-health
Table is taken from: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/b35a14e5-en.pdf?expires=1640638137&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=95C1B13D56ADDB9B52D8C95B00B94F47
Tackling education challenges and addressing SDG 4 by ensuring quality education for every child is a multidimensional process. Ensuring fair pay for teachers is an essential part of it. “Compensation and working conditions are important for attracting, developing, and retaining skilled and high-quality teachers and school heads,” says the OECD Education At A Glance 2021 report. This need has intensified, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic: teachers are carrying a new burden of extra workload related to constantly changing teaching modes and keeping students motivated in the hard times.
OECD report analyses teachers’ salaries in OECD countries. The earnings variance is shocking: with the highest average salary of $109,000 (1) in Luxembourg and the lowest one with around $19,000 (1) in the Slovak Republic, Latvia, Hungary, Costa Rica, and Brazil. Even though payment increases with years of experience and school level taught, teachers in OECD countries still earn 81-96% of the salaries of tertiary-educated workers on average. Fair payment for teachers is also essential in changes in the labor market. With a displacement of workplaces, priority will continue to be given to key “human” soft skills like problem-solving, and teachers will play a key role in promoting these skills.
The numbers provided are for lower secondary level teachers with more than 15 years of experience.
The case highlighted applications mainly concern the arrest and pre-trial detention of the applicants – all of whom were sitting as judges or prosecutors at different types and/or levels of court.
Background to the case were as follows:
During the night of 15 to 16 July 2016 a group of members of the Turkish armed forces calling themselves the “Peace at Home Council” attempted to carry out a military coup aimed at overthrowing the democratically installed National Assembly, government and President of Turkey.
The day after the attempted military coup, the national authorities blamed the attempt on the network linked to Fetullah Gülen, a Turkish citizen living in Pennsylvania (United States of America) and considered to be the leader of FETÖ/PDY.
On 16 July 2016 the Bureau for Crimes against the Constitutional Order at the Ankara public prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal investigation ex proprio motu into, inter alios, the suspected members of FETÖ/PDY within the judiciary. According to the information provided by the Government, this investigation against judges and prosecutors, including members of high courts, was initiated in accordance with the provisions of the ordinary law, on the ground that there had been a case of discovery in flagrante delicto falling with the jurisdiction of the assize courts.
instructions issued to the Directorate General of Security on the same day, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor noted that the offence of attempting to overthrow the government and the constitutional order by force was still ongoing and that there was a risk that members of the FETÖ/PDY terrorist organisation who were suspected of committing the offence in question might flee the country. He asked the Directorate General of Security to contact all the regional authorities with a view to taking into police custody all the judges and public prosecutors whose names were listed in the appendix to the instructions – including some of the applicants –, and to ensure that they were brought before a public prosecutor to be placed in pre-trial detention under Article 309 of the Criminal Code.
On 20 July 2016 the Government declared a state of emergency for a period of three months as from 21 July 2016; the state of emergency was subsequently extended for further periods of three months by the Council of Ministers.
During the state of emergency, the Council of Ministers passed several legislative decrees under Article 121 of the Constitution (see Baş, cited above, § 52). One of them, Legislative Decree no. 667, published in the Official Gazette on 23 July 2016, provided in its Article 3 that the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (Hakimler ve Savcılar Yüksek Kurulu ‑“the HSYK”) was authorised to dismiss any judges or prosecutors who were considered to belong or to be affiliated or linked to terrorist organisations or organisations, structures or groups found by the National Security Council to have engaged in activities harmful to national security.
On 18 July 2018 the state of emergency was lifted.
Actions against judges/prosecutors by the Turkish state:
Laws under which the Turkish state took action:
The following laws were used to take action against the prosecutors / judges by the Turkish state.
Investigation
Section 76
The initial investigation in respect of offences committed by the President, the Chief Public Prosecutor, the deputy presidents, the chamber presidents and the members of the Supreme Administrative Court in connection with or in the course of their official duties shall be conducted by a committee composed of a chamber president and two members selected by the President of the Supreme Administrative Court.
The procedure for the prosecution of personal offences
Section 82
The proceedings regarding the personal offences committed by the President, the Chief Public Prosecutor, the deputy presidents, the chamber presidents and the members of the Supreme Administrative Court shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions concerning the personal offences committed by the President, the Chief Public Prosecutor and the members of the Court of Cassation.
Outcome of the Judicial action by the Turkish state against prosecutors/ judges:
The Turkish state has taken judicial action against prosecutors/judges concerning the arrest and pre-trial detention of the applicants.
In the case Turan vs The State of Turkey the court noted the following:
Decides, unanimously, to join the applications;
Declares, unanimously, the complaint under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention concerning the lawfulness of the applicants’ initial pre-trial detention admissible;
Holds, unanimously, that there has been a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention on account of the unlawfulness of the initial pre-trial detention of the applicants who were ordinary judges and prosecutors at the time of their detention;
Holds, unanimously, that there has been a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention on account of the unlawfulness of the initial pre-trial detention of the applicants who were members of the Court of Cassation or the Supreme Administrative Court at the time of their detention;
Holds, by six votes to one, that there is no need to examine the admissibility and merits of the applicants’ remaining complaints under Article 5 of the Convention;
Holds, unanimously,
(a) that the respondent State is to pay each of the applicants, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, EUR 5,000 (five thousand euros) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and costs and TURAN AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 29 expenses, plus any tax that may be chargeable on these amounts, which are to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points;
Dismisses, unanimously, the remainder of the applicants’ claim for just satisfaction. Done in English, and notified in writing on 23 November 2021, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.
The state of judges/prosecutors in Turkey – a summary:
The actions by the Turkish state shows that its actions to initiate actions against Judges/prosecutors was arbitrary. This is why the court decided to impose fines on such actions. While, military coup is definitely hostile action against the executive, the arrest of judges and prosecutors were broad and arbitrary in its scope. Judges and Prosecutors are representatives of the critical third pillar of a country that is the Judiciary. Judiciary often acts as a check against overreach by the executive and legislature. In this way it ensures that people’s fundamental rights do not get trampled due to the actions of legislature/ executive whether knowingly/unknowingly.
The state of judges/ prosecutors in Turkey can be seen as vulnerable. The judges are vulnerable to actions by the Turkish state which believes in detention, arrest of judges without verifiable reason. This may be of significant concern because it leads to chilling stifling of judicial independence. The fundamental fact is that after the 2016 coup the arrest of prosecutors/ judges were based on suspicions of being a part of a movement that was allegedly responsible for a coup overthrowing the executive. While, overthrowing of a democratically elected government cannot be justified, the arrest of all judges who a part of a particular list shows a lack of respect for established forms. The Turkish government decided to ask the Directorate General of Security to contact all the regional authorities with a view to taking into police custody all the judges and public prosecutors whose names were listed in the appendix to the instructions – including some of the applicants –, and to ensure that they were brought before a public prosecutor to be placed in pre-trial detention under Article 309 of the Criminal Code. This is a complete violation of a proper process of prosecution in which there should have been investigation, enquiry, evidence gathering. After this there should have been arrest and then placing the evidence in court. None of this happened.
The Turkish authorities have shown complete lack of respect either for judges as individuals who have fundamental freedoms nor have they considered the impact it will have on the ability of judiciary to restrain harmful government action. In summary this is what the case and its verdict as well as Turkish govt’s actions highlight after a coup. While, coup against the state is unjustifiable detention of judges without proof of involvement in coup is also unjustifiable.
This report published in December 2020 aims to inform the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child about the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the UK and identify emerging trends and critical issues about children’s rights. The following article gathers the most significant findings of the Commissioners.
Incorporation of the UNCRC into domestic law and failure to ratify the third Optional Protocol
The commissioners report that the UK ratified the UNCRC in 1991 but has not been incorporated into domestic legislation and remains nonjusticiable in UK courts. In addition, the UK did not confirm the Optional Protocol to the UNCRC. In England and Northern Ireland, there is no legal requirement for government ministers to have due regard to the UNCRC, and no unusual movement has been made to introduce the UNCRC into domestic law. However, the commissioners welcome the Scottish initiative to incorporate the UNCRC into Scottish law.
Children’s rights and interests not prioritized in decision-making
The commissioners noted the lack of consideration for children’s rights or voices in policy or legislative processes in the UK. Specifically, the quality of the Child Rights Impact Assessments (CRIA) is concerning, often with no analysis of available options, no justification of selected options, no mitigation measures, and their impact on ministerial decisions is nuclear.
Inadequate resource allocation and no transparency in budgeting
Across the UK, there is a lack of transparency and clarity in budget processes, allocations, and expenditures concerning children, making it challenging to identify how much funding is allocated to children. The budget is also insufficient. For instance, Before the pandemic, children’s statutory services in England faced a £3 billion18 shortfall.19 Meeting the needs of all children in vulnerable situations would cost approximately £10 billion
Insufficient data collection, disaggregation, and análisis
There is a lack of coherent, consistent, transparent, and systematic, disaggregated data collection concerning children across all jurisdictions, making it difficult to monitor and measure children’s needs and assess the fulfillment of their rights.
Insufficient protection means children continue to experience discrimination.
In some areas of Scots law, a ‘child’ is defined as someone under 16, which means some child protection and mental health safeguards do not apply to 16- and 17-year-olds in some settings. For instance, in Northern Ireland, the Age Discrimination Bill would apply only to persons over 16. In England, Black Caribbean pupils are three times as likely to be permanently excluded than White British pupils and twice as likely to receive a fixed period exclusion than White British pupils.
Inadequate participation of children and young people in decision-making
Children’s right to be heard and involved in decision-making processes across all jurisdictions is denied without comprehensive implementation in law and practice. The voting age for UK general elections remains 18. It should be lowered to 16.
Violence against children
Across the UK, isolation, seclusion, and restraint58 are used in education, care, mental health, and detention settings, sometimes as a disciplinary measure for low-level incidents and sometimes resulting in injuries. In England, restraint in education settings and Young Offenders Institutions (YOIs) is permitted to maintain good order and discipline. In Scotland, restraint is sometimes used as an inappropriate response to distressed children’s behavior. Local authority policies and practices are inconsistent, failing to recognize children’s rights. In addition, In England and Northern Ireland, the reasonable punishment defense for assaulting children still exists in law.
Regarding sexual abuse, In England, most children who experience sexual abuse are not identified or supported, and the investigative process, including significant delays in bringing cases to trial, is often traumatic. In Northern Ireland, the average of 986 days for sexual offenses cases involving child victims to reach completion is concerning.
Regarding children enrolled in armed forces, the UK continues to enlist children in the Armed Forces from 16 and actively recruits 16- and 17-year-olds despite the Committee’s recommendations. In Northern Ireland, paramilitary intimidation, shootings, and attacks continue to be perpetrated on children, causing casualties, injuries, and many to become homeless.
Family environment and alternative care
In England, total spending on children’s services decreased in real terms by approximately 11% from 2009/10-2017/18, with assistance, including youth services and children’s centers, experiencing a 60% decrease by 2019/20. In addition, A lack of appropriate services, including specialist residential provision, in or near the place of residence, means children from England and Wales are placed in unregulated placements or sent far from home.
Disability, essential health, and welfare
Across the UK, disabled children are disproportionately affected by inadequate resourcing, mainly because of austerity measures and Covid-19. Overall, disabled children do not always have the additional support required by law or equal Access to services. In England, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services are under increasing pressure. In 2017/18, 81.3% of local authorities overspent their high-needs budget. In Northern Ireland, mental health services and support are fragmented and often unavailable, accessible, or quality to meet their needs.
Failure to realize the highest attainable standard of health
In 2018, 35% of all deaths aged 0-19 in the UK were considered avoidable. In England, too many children lack access to treatment. Only one-quarter of children with a diagnosable condition are referred for help, more than one-third of referrals are rejected, and children wait too long for treatment–an average of 53 days. Consequently, children too often reach the point of crisis requiring inpatient care rather than support in the community.
Inadequate action to tackle children’s food insecurity
There is no single nationwide government measure for hunger in the UK. Before the pandemic, an estimated 1.9 million children experienced food insecurity across the UK.
Child poverty and welfare reform
In the UK, there were 4.2 million children (30%) living in poverty in 2018/19–an increase of 600,000 from 2011/12. Poverty provides constant stress for children, 21% of whom list ‘not having enough money in their top three worries and 5% ‘not having enough food or clothes.’ Opportunities for children in poverty are also fewer: 37% of children who receive free school meals leave education without a Level 2 Qualification, compared to 18% overall.
Adequate housing
In Wales, in March 2020, roughly 69% of those in temporary housing were households with children, including in hostels and bed and breakfasts. In England, there is a family homelessness crisis. There were around 127,000 children in temporary accommodation pre-pandemic and approximately 90,000 families “sofa surfing” and likely to be in overcrowded accommodation.
Education, leisure, and cultural activities
Unequal Access to education is a concern in the UK. in Northern Ireland, many children, including care-experienced children, disabled children, Traveller children, those from ethnic minorities, disadvantaged backgrounds, and with additional needs, face significant impediments to high-quality education. In Scotland, disabled children, particularly those with autistic spectrum disorders and other disabilities, cannot access education on an equal basis.
Education on human rights and the UNCRC
Human and child rights education is not compulsory in schools in England and Scotland. In Northern Ireland, while the UNCRC and children’s rights are reflected with the school curriculum throughout Key Stages 1-4, these are not compulsory.
Insufficient measures to protect and support migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking children
Asylum-seeking and refugee children and families face barriers to appropriate healthcare and education, a lack of child-friendly interview facilities, the vulnerability of exhaustion of appeal rights, deprivation, and the negative consequences of the UK government’s ‘hostile environment policy.
Overuse of deprivation of liberty
Across the UK, there are increasing concerns about children being unlawfully deprived of their liberty in institutional settings. In England, children can spend up to nine months in custody without a sentence. In 2019, two-thirds of remanded children did not subsequently receive a prison sentence.
Impact of Brexit
Europosters.fr
The European Union (EU) Withdrawal Agreement Act removes the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights from UK law, weakening legal protections for children. It contains rights with no direct equivalent in UK law, including for a child’s best interests to be a primary consideration in all actions taken by a public or private institution, a freestanding right to non-discrimination, and the right to human dignity.
The UNICEF released its 2020 Annual Report called “Responding to COVID-19”. As stated in the report, the COVID 19 “wiped out hard-won development gains for children and pushed more families into poverty”.
Firstly, this report points out how COVID-19 affected children in 2020. Even if children are less vulnerable to the virus than adults, school closures, increased vulnerability to abuse, the mental health strains of parents and families, distance from friends, and loss of access to vital health care and protection services have hurt children deeply. The report highlights that children were not affected equally, with children from poor countries communities and those already disadvantaged by discrimination, social exclusion, fragility and conflict more affected. The report provides some significant figures:
142 million additional children were estimated to fall into monetary poverty by the end of 2020 and lack access to social protection.
At least 1 in 3 schoolchildren has been unable to access remote learning while their schools were closed, and 1.6 billion children and young people have been affected by school closures
Approximately 80 million children under age 1 may miss out on life-saving vaccines in at least 68 countries
Approximately 80 million children under age 1 may miss out on life-saving vaccines in at least 68 countries
To fight those figures, UNICEF established five goals areas:
Every child survives and thrives, focusing on health and nutrition, providing antibiotics, supporting health facilities, treating malnutrition…
Every child learns: focusing and education, supporting distance learning for migrant, displaced, refugee and returnee children, providing learning materials…
Every child is protected from violence and exploitation, through prevention, psychological support, social services
Every child lives in a safe and clean environment, safeguarding the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child by working to reduce child poverty and end discrimination.
The pandemic made UNICEF change its strategy and choose to focus on winning support for children and young people. Communication and advocacy became even more critical in the face of the global pandemic, with digital channels widely used and advocacy playing a key role in securing the rights of children in the COVID-19 environment. This new strategy included the development of partnerships as well 146 government partners along with intergovernmental organizations and inter-organizational arrangements contributed a record $5.5 billion in resources for children globally. Innovation was also part of the new strategy with the launch of UNICEF’s first Global Innovation Strategy at the beginning of 2020. The Strategy aims to position innovation as a key tool to achieve widespread and lasting change for children.
By Morgane Bizien
Pictures taken from the report: https://www.unicef.org/media/100946/file/UNICEF%20Annual%20Report%202020.pdf
Before I begin, I would like to thank the Broken Chalk organization for arranging this event.
On Teachers International Day, I would like to appreciate and thank the efforts and hard work of the most important pillars of our society, our teachers!
It’s an honor and pleasure to be here!
I want to talk a bit about myself. I am Husna and I am from Afghanistan. I graduated from Turkish schools in Afghanistan, and Turkish schools were established in Afghanistan two decades ago during a chaotic and critical time.
My Turkish sisters and brothers came to Afghanistan when education was most needed. These schools produced a generation of intellectual and aware Afghans, moderate Muslims and change-makers, and a generation that will build Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, due to the illegal and wrong decision of the Turkish Government, our schools were closed in 2018.
After the fall of Kabul and the re-emergence of the Taliban and their dark ideology, today, Afghan girls are deprived of their fundamental rights and are banned from going to school, and 66,000 teachers are not allowed to go and teach in schools.
Also, it’s worth mentioning tonight that an educated girl is equal to an educated society.
Today, due to my teacher’s hard work and efforts, I am standing in front of you. Education gave me the courage to fight for an equal world and make an impact in the world.
I appreciate your attention and have a great evening.
During the peace talks in Doha in 2020, the Taliban emphasized the importance of education in several statements ‘because this is the basic right of all Afghans.’ They also wanted to ‘guarantee all human and legal rights of every child, woman, and man.’ In this, the Taliban presented themselves as a progressive force in favor of education for all citizens of Afghanistan, regardless of gender, even though in areas held under Taliban control, up until their recent resurgence, their record for girls’ education was poor and inconsistent.
Very few areas allowed girls past puberty to attend school; some prevented girls from gaining an education where the Taliban held influence over the curriculum and prioritized religious education at the expense of other subjects.
An estimated 3.7 million children are out of school in Afghanistan- 60% of them are girls. After the fall of Kabul and the reemergence of the Taliban and their dark ideology.
FILE PHOTO: Afghan women’s rights defenders and civil activists protest to call on the Taliban to preserve their achievements and education in front of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 3, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Today millions of Afghan girls are deprived of their fundamental rights. Women and girls were banned from schools and universities under Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001, and they are again forbidden from going to school in 2021.
According to the Taliban, “the education system is not Islamic enough, and schools should be segregated by gender, and Taliban will introduce a new dress code.”- Taliban has said.
Taliban have promised the people of Afghanistan; they will not prevent women from being educated or having jobs. But since the fall of Kabul, women cannot go out of their houses, and they are imprisoned in the four walls of their homes.
Taliban’s actions and words are not the same. For more than a month, Afghan girls have been banned from their fundamental right to “education,” and the world is not doing anything about this. Afghan women are paying the price of their fake promises, and they are being tortured mentally and physically.
Afghan women have been fighting for their rights in the last four decades, and they are fighters. They didn’t give up in the previous 40 years, and they will not give up today as well. We are not asking the world to give us western liberties. We are asking for solidarity in this fight against darkness.
The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances released a report about enforced and involuntary disappearances examined from 16 May 2020 to 21 May 2021. During the reporting period, the Working Group transmitted 651 new cases of enforced disappearance to 30 States.
taken from https://www.alhaq.org
This working group is the first United Nations human rights thematic mechanism m to be established with a universal mandate, whose primary task is to assist families in determining the fate or whereabouts of their family members who are reportedly disappeared.
In Turkey, the working group reported 86 outstanding cases at the beginning of the reporting period. Only 2 cases were clarified during the reporting period by the government.
The working group also documented cases of extraterritorial transfers that led to enforced disappearances with the participation, support or acquiescence of other States, in an attempt to capture their nationals or third-country nationals, often as part of purported counter-terrorism operations.
taken from https://pro-justice.org
Serious allegations of gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, were reported to the Working Group shortly before, during or in the immediate aftermath of alleged transnational transfers from Kosovo to Turkey. The report highlights its concern about the continued justification of extraterritorial abductions and forced returns under the pretext of combating terrorism and protecting national security. The Working Group therefore urges the Government of Turkey to prevent and terminate enforced disappearances, as stipulated in article 2 of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Working Group recalls that no circumstances whatsoever, whether a threat of war, a state of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked to justify enforced disappearances.
One the other part, the report points out the impunity surrounding the perpetrators of enforced disappearances and its concern at the tendency to resort to transnational transfers. The Working group recalled that these transfers meet all the elements of the crime of enforced disappearance when before, during or after them information on the fate or whereabouts of the individual concerned is not revealed or disclosed. In addition, those transfers provoke denial of justice as long as individuals are deprived of liberty, and violate the rights to an effective remedy and fair trial.
In every individual’s life education and the learning of value systems contributes to a critical part of the development of an individual. Values teaches individuals habits, manners, appropriate behavior, respect for individuals among many other important life skills.
The people who play a key role in imparting these values is teacher / professor. Most individuals attain education during which time people come across some sort of a teacher / educator who teaches the critical values of life. Such education continues in some way or the other until a person finishes university. For their contribution they get the honoured across the world.
However, one needs to consider one question. What if someone instead of honouring them for these contributions decides to place such people in lock up. Unfortunately, the Turkish government does exactly this.
A report by the working group on involuntary disappearances which reports to the United Nations Human Rights commission mentions about how the Turkish state abducts such teachers just because they are opposed to the government in Turkey. The report states that:
“When Turkish authorities fail to secure the extradition through legal means, they resort to covert operations, in cooperation with law enforcement agencies from the third countries, including intelligence agencies and police. This primarily includes swift illegal actions to place vulnerable individuals outside the protection of the law and their subsequent transfer. In some cases, these acts have directly contravened judicial orders against illegal deportation. Faced with increasing pressure to comply, host states conduct around-the-clock surveillance, followed by house raids and arbitrary arrests in undercover operations by law enforcement or intelligence officers in plainclothes. The individuals’ names are cross-checked against prepared lists, before being taken to unmarked vehicles by force”.
Moreover, the basic rights of such people are denied.
In most of such disappearences, “Their family members are unaware of their fate and whereabouts. According to testimonies obtained, the victims of these operations have recounted unabated abuse perpetrated by intelligence agents, primarily aimed at obtaining forced confession. Most prevalent forms of torture include food and sleep deprivation, beatings, waterboarding, and electric shocks. This is coupled with threats against lives, security and personal integrity of family members and relatives”.
There are several specific examples where the victims have endured the brunt of the Turkish state for speaking against and opposing it. In Gabon for instance three “Turkish nationals and teachers, their three spouses and seven children were arrested and held in incommunicado detention for 23 days, before they were forcibly returned to Turkey due to their alleged affiliation with a foreign terrorist group. They were deported from Gabon to Turkey”. This is not the only case.
Another teacher was “abducted by Pakistani state intelligence, held in secret or incommunicado detention for 17 days, and then involuntarily returned to Turkey. The house of the Kaçmaz family was raided by intelligence agents in the middle of the night while the family was asleep, presumably after days of surveillance. According to the source, the agents behaved brutally, having pushed, shoved and slapped the parents and the children. The family was deprived of any contact with the legal counsel or the extended family, while their identification documents were forcibly taken during the arrest. Whilst being detained incommunicado, the family was reportedly subjected to physical and verbal abuse aimed at coercing them to voluntarily return to Turkey”. While, these are only a few examples there are many such teachers who are getting abducted.
No teacher/ educator should face the consequences of being educators. In fact in most countries provide full respect to their teachers / educators. It should be the duty of human rights organizations, defenders and the society to ensure that there is respect for its educators. Only then can a society continue to progress in various periods.
Due to World Teachers’ Day, teachers exposed to immigration from Turkey and started their teaching careers again in the Netherlands shared their stories in the program.
Many teachers who sought asylum in the Netherlands attended the meeting, which took place in the Broken Chalk Foundation’s Sara Burgerhart Activiteitencentrum (SBAC) conference hall in Amsterdam. Speaking at the panel moderated by the Dutch writer James Roolvink, Broken Chalk Foundation Co-Chair Ramazan İnce said that there have been many human rights violations in the last five years in Turkey and that everyone who is against the government of President Erdoğan, or anyone who is against him, has been declared a terrorist.
İnce gave the following information: “There are serious human rights violations against our educator friends living in Turkey. Life is getting harder for them every day. We must do something for them. We cannot continue with our lives by forgetting them. Therefore, we founded the Broken Chalk foundation. After the failed coup attack, the Turkish government has shut down more than a thousand private schools by statutory decree-laws in the last five years. According to the data collected by the National Education Union (Egitim-Sen), the government banned 41005 teachers from the profession, and their teaching certificates were revoked. These teachers cannot do their job. In addition, 16 universities were closed while 56000 students continued their higher education on the campuses, and 5342 people lost their jobs, among 2465 of which were academicians. All of this was done with the statutory decree by the AKP government. Broken Chalk reports on human rights abuses in education. We present our reports to the human rights organizations of the United Nations and the European Union. Broken Chalk organizes street protests to attract public attention and put pressure on governments. It publishes press releases about rights violations in the field of education.”
HUSNA JALAL FROM AFGAN KABUL TURKISH SCHOOL: I WANT TO BE THE VOICE OF AFGAN WOMEN
Husna Jalal, a graduate of the Afghan Turkish School in Kabul, who had to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country on the 15th of August, said, “Life has changed drastically after 15th of August for Afghan men and women. The young professional Afghans left the country, Afghans are starving and Afghanistan is now on the countdown of catastrophe without the support of the international community. I want to amplify Afghan women voices in Europe.” she said.
AUTHOR JAMES ROOLVINK: NETHERLANDS WON IN EDUCATION FIELD, TURKEY LOST
James Roolvink, the moderator of the Broken Chalk World Teachers’ Day program, said that it is significant for teachers who sought asylum in the Netherlands after the fictional coup to learn Dutch in a short time and start a new life. James Roolvink said: “For two hours, I got together with Ramazan İnce, Fatih OK, Zeynep Efil, Burhan Kasap, Kadir Tan, and Husna Jalal, teachers who work in different schools and jobs in different cities of the Netherlands. I want to say that the Netherlands won and Turkey lost. Because there is a shortage of 12000 teachers in the Netherlands, most refugees must be teachers in the Netherlands. I was together with seven teachers in the Broken Chalk program. We spent a conducive and successful two hours with them on my completely Dutch educational system without a translator. I am sure they will create a different situation for the Dutch education system. Especially their self-confidence and speaking Dutch without an accent were extremely impressive. I want to say that it was a very successful program for me personally. I wish these teachers success in their new lives.”
ŞAHİN: WHAT CAN WE DO FOR THE NETHERLANDS?
Stating that she came to the Netherlands 3 years ago, Neslihan Özcan Şahin said, “I was a science teacher. I had to seek asylum in the Netherlands for political reasons. After my extended stay at the asylum, we got home. I applied to the teaching project of the Municipality of Amsterdam. Then I completed this training. I got the right to work as a teaching assistant in the Netherlands. I have started teaching in Amsterdam at the high school level in the Netherlands. The Dutch people are amazed. Because you cannot do many things about language learning during the camp. We did not have a course. It took too long to get a residence permit. We came to the Netherlands for freedom. This country gave us our freedom. Now, we have only one aim is what can we do for this country and people. We discussed how we could help and be helpful in the Dutch education system in the Broken Chalk World Teachers’ Day program. I believe that every student has very different intelligence.
KASAP: I HAVE READ AND LISTENED TO MANY BOOKS IN THE NETHERLANDS. I RENEWED MYSELF
Burhan Kasap said that he took part in the Dutch Education system with a project he participated in. Dutch is a complex language. I followed language studies and courses closely for three years. I met with Dutch friends. I tried to read and listen to a lot of Dutch books. This is how I shortened my language barrier. I will now start working at a school in Den Haag city. Here we are trying to hold on to life. I came here for political reasons. We want to contribute something to Dutch society. I want to thank the Broken Chalk Foundation for giving us this opportunity. It has been a very effective program for me. We want to make severe contributions by using the chances that the Netherlands has offered for us. This was a start. I hope there will be more new programs in the future.
TAN: IT WAS A PLEASURE FOR ME TO LEARN THE DUTCH LANGUAGE
Kadir Tan learned the Dutch language in a short period of 3 years and started working as a French teacher in the Dutch education system. He said, “I am first involved in the Dutch education system as a French education assistant. Since I was a foreign language teacher in Turkey, I had sympathy for foreigners. I was doing my best to make my students love the foreign language French. It was my pleasure to learn the Dutch language. I learned Dutch not as an obligation but as pleasure while learning. It’s a bit of a challenge due to my age. I will be happy to teach French to my students in the Netherlands because the Dutch government gave me this opportunity. I want to teach in my country, but it was not fortunate. I am not angry with anyone.
I look forward to meeting my students with excitement. I learned that there is a tremendous teacher shortage in the Netherlands. In this respect, I fully believe that new young teachers will make an earnest contribution to the Dutch education system.”
OK: I AM TEACHING ENGLISH AT A HIGH SCHOOL
Fatih OK, who has been in the Netherlands for five years, described the process of starting teaching as follows: “It took a long time to take our place in the Dutch education system. After I learned the language, I started applying for jobs, and I got a job at a school in Hengelo, Netherlands. I continued to teach English in high school. I am pretty happy with my life right now.
Meanwhile, Broken Chalk organized an excellent program in the capital city of Amsterdam. In the program, we had the opportunity to share our experiences. Moderator James Roolvink asked us some good questions, and I found the program very useful for education. Hopefully, we can continue.”
İNCE: THE TURKISH EMBASSY DID NOT RENEW OUR PASSPORT
Ramazan İnce, who came to the Netherlands 3.5 years ago and said: “Our children were born in Nigeria. We were happy living in Africa. We had no problems with people in Africa. All people loved us. Now I would like to explain why we are in the Netherlands. And why we sought asylum here and why we left our family and friends behind. Our children’s passports were about to expire. The Turkish embassy did not renew our children’s passports. Then my wife’s and my passports were revoked. You may wonder why this is because the school where I worked belonged to the Gülen Movement. The AKP government under President Erdogan declared the Gülen Movement a terrorist organization. For this reason, our passports were canceled, and our children’s passports were not renewed. The AKP government is kidnapping teachers all over the world. The interior ministry said that Turkish national intelligence had kidnapped more than 100 teachers from 18 different countries. We could not get visas to other countries. If you work with the schools of the Gulen movement, you cannot get a visa. We had no other choice. Our children’s passports were only valid for three months. We had to do something before the passports expired. We tried to go to Romania via Amsterdam with KLM. It worked. We arrived in Schiphol and waited to miss our next flight. Then we went to the police in Amsterdam Schipol and sought asylum. The waiting time in the asylum centers was very long. I should do something. I sent many emails to schools. But unfortunately, I always received a negative response. They said ‘sorry’ because I did not have a residence permit. I tried to take Dutch lessons, but it was costly for me. I have completed three different IT courses. These were Data Science, Full Stack Web Developer, and Microsoft Azure Cloud Engineer. After my education, I did my internship at Fujitsu. Fortunately, Fujitsu offered me a permanent contract. And now I have been working as a systems engineer at Fujitsu for over a year.”
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change its strategy and choose to focus on winning support for children and young people. Communication and advocacy became even more critical in the face of the global pandemic, with digital channels widely used and advocacy playing a key role in securing the rights of children in the COVID-19 environment. This new strategy included the development of partnerships as well 146 government partners along with intergovernmental organizations and inter-organizational arrangements contributed a record $5.5 billion in resources for children globally. Innovation was also part of the new strategy with the launch of UNICEF’s first Global Innovation Strategy at the beginning of 2020. The Strategy aims to position innovation as a key tool to achieve widespread and lasting change for children.
