'Education expenses increased 654 percent in four years'

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CHP Deputy Chairman Lale Karabıyık has unveiled a report regarding school expenses ahead of the upcoming academic year starting on September 11. Karabıyık stated that school expenses have been steadily increasing over the past four years and shared the findings of their research based on the real prices of 137 products in the market.

Karabıyık commented on their research as follows: "The cost that needs to be made for a preschool education student when the school starts increased by 285.26% in 2022 and by 654.36% in 2023 compared to 2019."

"The costs made for elementary school students at the beginning of the year have risen by 316% in 2022 and by 493.8% in 2023 compared to 2019. For middle school education, the costs of starting the school year have increased by 304.1% in 2022 and by 450.5% in 2023, again compared to 2019. As for high school education, the same costs have escalated by 286.8% in 2022 and by 486.4% in 2023 vis-a-vis 2019."

"Insufficient teacher appointments"

In her statement, Karabıyık also criticized the lack of adequate teacher and educational support staff appointments. The CHP Deputy Chairman remarked, "Approximately 63,000 security personnel and 105,000 cleaning staff are needed. The number of teacher appointments made is not sufficient. Considering that over 90,000 contract teachers were employed in the previous academic year, it's clear that without appointing at least 100,000 teachers, students will be left without teachers, and teachers without students."

Karabıyık emphasized that considering the 45,000 appointments made for this year, it is not even half of the needed teachers, especially when accounting for retirees leaving the system. She added, "Therefore, we will again be trying to overcome the teacher shortage with the paid teacher system."

"More than a salary spent for school expenses"

Karabıyık highlighted that the rising cost of living has also affected the materials used by students, leading to significant price increases in all materials compared to previous years. "A family living on the minimum wage has to spend more than a month's salary on their child starting elementary school, while even the lowest-paid civil servant has to spend half of their salary on school expenses," she said.

Referring to Article 42 of the Constitution, which states that basic education should be equal and free for all citizens, Karabıyık commented "The education expenses of parents demonstrate that this is not achieved in public schools. Our schools have become institutions that reflect all the inequalities in society."

(RT/PE)