Union raises awareness about children skipping school to work in harvests

ŞANLIURFA – Anadolu Agency

Eğitim-Sen members visited the Eskin village in the fertile Baziki plain, a few kilometers away from the gigantic Atatürk dam. AA photo

A teachers’ union distributed notebooks and school supplies to dozens of children working in cotton fields in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa on Sept. 27 in attempt to raise awareness about the thousands of pupils who work on farms, particularly during harvest periods.
 
The local head of the Eğitim-Sen union, Halit Şahin, said 110,000 children across Turkey spend part of the school year working in fields. 
 
“[These children] can’t go to school because their parents work in cotton fields. We are calling on the authorities regarding this issue. We expressly want the parents of these students to be prioritized for recruitment as part of the Turkish Employment Organization (İŞKUR),” Şahin said during a visit to the Eskin village in the fertile Baziki plain, a few kilometers away from the gigantic Atatürk dam. 
 
For years, many nongovernmental organizations have carried out campaigns in rural parts of Turkey to encourage families to send their children, particularly their daughters, to schools instead of setting them to work.
 
Şahin said teachers faced many problems at schools as many children, including those who live with their parents in cities, neglect their schoolwork during the harvest season.