138.000 students were affected by the shutdown of more than 2.300 educational institutions including tutoring centers, high schools, dormitories, and universities associated with the Hizmet movement after the failed coup attempt in July 2016. These students and their parents were blacklisted, designated as terrorists, and in some cases dismissed from their jobs, arrested and tortured. All the assets of closed institutions were confiscated without any court decision.
Children’s education prospects and their rights were disregarded by the authorities. On the contrary, a booklet that shows the Hizmet Movement as a terrorist organization was distributed to primary school students aged between 5 to 10. The students transferred to public schools were bullied and felt severely distressed. The teaching licenses of 22.474 teachers were revoked.
The students who graduated from the closed universities could not get their diplomas and were discriminated against at their new universities where they were transferred.
33.128 teachers; 5.328 academics and 1194 administrative staff working under the Ministry of National Education (MoH) were expelled from their jobs with the State of Emergency Decrees. In the same period, 24.490 teachers were suspended unlawfully. 1194 administrative staff have been dismissed which paralyzed the organizational structure of the school system.
Given the current shortage of teachers reaching 144.000, the expelling of 33.000 teachers and 1194 administrative staff and the additional 138.000 students transferred to public schools has caused profound problems in the education system.
Recommendations
- Member states should take necessary measures to ensure the physical, mental, and social development of children and preserve the dignity of them accordingly.
- Shut-down schools should be reopened and their damages should be duly compensated.
- The students’ right to education has been severely deprived, it should be reinstated with no reservations and annotations.
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