The budget of the Ministry of National Education (MEB) will be discussed today in the Parliament's Plan Budget Commission.
Before the meeting, Eğitim-İş prepared a report on the budget. In the report, it was stated that the increase of 26.5 percent in TL in the Ministry of Education budget does not alone indicate that more real resources are allocated to education.
It was pointed out that the numerical increase, which is not reflected in the cleanliness of the school, student nutrition, teacher appointment, classroom and laboratory equipment, does not eliminate the needs in education.
'PURCHASING POWER OF EDUCATION HAS DECREASED, DIANET'S POWER HAS INCREASED'
In the report, which includes the comparison of the budget of Education and Religious Affairs in terms of purchasing power, "The nominal increase of 26.48 percent in the Ministry of Education budget remained below the annual inflation of 29.77 percent and the purchasing power of the budget decreased by approximately 2.54 percent. The budget of the Presidency of Religious Affairs showed a nominal increase of 31.35 percent, remaining above inflation and increasing by approximately 1.22 percent in real terms. While the purchasing power of the education budget decreased, the purchasing power of the Religious Affairs Directorate decreased by approximately 2.54 percent. "The purchasing power of the Presidency's budget has increased. This table reveals the preferences and budget priorities in the distribution of public resources."
'THE PRIORITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE QUESTIONED'
In the report, which emphasizes that the education budget is a choice, it is stated that "Although the Ministry of National Education appropriation increases nominally in the 2027 budget, the historical decline in the share of education in the central budget and the eroding of the purchasing power of resources by price increases make it necessary to question the priorities of the political power."
The union listed its demands in its report as follows:
"The appropriate number of permanent cleaning personnel and security guards should be appointed to schools, students should be provided with at least one healthy, free meal and clean drinkable water at school, the teacher shortage should be covered by need-based and sufficient number of permanent teachers appointment, not by paid teaching and similar precarious practices, school buildings with inadequate earthquake resistance should be strengthened or rebuilt without delay; crowded classrooms should be reduced, classroom investments that will put an end to dual education should be planned, every school should have a well-equipped science and technology laboratory, library, There should be information infrastructure, sports area, suitable places for art and music studies; these opportunities should not vary depending on the income of the families or the region where the school is located. The salaries of teachers and all education workers should be increased to a level that will compensate for the decreasing purchasing power in the face of increasing living costs and be sufficient to live humanely. The maintenance, repair, equipment, stationery and educational material needs of public schools should be met directly from the public budget; compulsory donations and actual remuneration practices through school parent associations should be stopped, public resources should be provided for public, free, secular, scientific and mixed education. "Resource transfers that encourage private education and public expenditures in the field of education should be transparent, auditable and regulated on the basis of public interest."
'THE BUDGET SHOULD BE SAVED FOR CHILDREN'
The following statements were included in the union report:
"The education budget is a choice regarding the future of the Republic. We do not accept the understanding that leaves the fate of children to the income of their families, the quality of schools to the donations of parents, and the lives of education workers to insecurity. As Eğitim-İş, we will continue to defend together the right to public, free, secular, scientific, mixed and qualified education; the enlightenment heritage of the Republic and the honor of labor. Public resources should be allocated to public education, and the budget should be allocated to children and education workers."
