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Turkey

Teachers’ union protests education budget in Turkish capital

Participants also protested the growing influence of religion in the school system, the news site said.

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Thousands took part in a rally on Saturday in Turkey’s capital Ankara, protesting the budget allocated for education, Sendika.org reported.

Members of Eğitim-Sen, a union for people working in education and academia, representatives of opposition parties, as well as students and youth organisations took part in the rally against inadequate education budget, Sendika.org said.

Many carried banners that read “We will return to our jobs”, regarding former employees in the education sector who lost their jobs after Turkey imposed a state of emergency following the failed coup of July 2016.

More than 100,000 public service employees were formally suspended from their jobs, while more than 6,000 academics were dismissed by a special decree issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Participants also protested the growing influence of religion in the school system, the news site said.

The number of İmam Hatip religious schools have catapulted in number, from 450 when the leader of the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdoğan, came into power, to over 5,000 today.

He has been vocal about his goal to create a pious generation of Muslim Turks, who he maintains will help lead a social and economic transformation of the country.

“We will continue the struggle for secular, scientific and democratic education, as well as education in the mother tongue,” Sendika.org quoted Feray Aytekin Aydoğan, the leader of Eğitim-Sen, as saying during her speech at the demonstration.

Source: Ahval

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