According to the data of the Occupational Health and Safety (İSİG) Assembly, at least 95 children died while working in the 2025-2026 academic year. While it was announced that child worker deaths increased by 32 percent compared to the previous education period, 11 students were injured, 2 of them seriously, in an armed attack in front of a high school in Manisa's Turgutlu district in the first days of the new academic year. Two separate paintings once again brought to the agenda the security problems that children face from working life to school.
Türkiye entered the new academic year by discussing the safety of children. The İSİG Assembly announced that at least 95 children lost their lives while working between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026. In the days when the report was brought to the agenda, this time students became the target of an armed attack on the way to school.
11 students were injured, 2 of them seriously, as a result of gunfire opened in front of İnci Üzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Turgutlu district of Manisa on the morning of September 22. While the suspect was caught by the police, education at the school was suspended for a day.
95 CHILDREN DIED THEIR LIVES WHILE WORKING AND THEIR DESKS REMAINED EMPTY
According to the data of the İSİG Assembly for the 2025-2026 academic period, at least 95 child workers lost their lives. Thus, the number of child worker deaths, which was 72 in the previous academic year, increased by 32 percent. In the 2023-2024 period, 66 children died while working.
28 of the children who lost their lives were between the ages of 5-14, and 67 were between the ages of 15-17. 37 of the deaths occurred in agriculture, 27 in industry, 18 in construction and 13 in the service sector. The İSİG Assembly argued that child labor deepens with poverty and insecurity.
The report particularly drew attention to Vocational Education Centers (MESEM) and claimed that children were included in the labor market with long working hours under the name of "education". The İSİG Assembly demanded that MESEMs be closed, vocational education be reorganized in a school-centered manner and child labor be banned.
THEY BECAME THE TARGET OF ARMED ATTACK WHILE GOING TO SCHOOL
This time, school safety came to the fore when data on child worker deaths was discussed. 11 students were injured in the armed attack that took place on the street where students go to school in Turgutlu. It was announced that two of the injured were in serious condition. After the attack, the suspect was caught; Three members of his family were also detained within the scope of the investigation.
The Ministry of National Education announced that education at İnci Üzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School was suspended for one day after the attack. The Ministry of Internal Affairs appointed two chief civil inspectors and two chief police inspectors to investigate all aspects of the incident.
REACTION FROM EĞİTİM-İŞ: “CHILDREN ARE PROTECTED NEITHER IN SCHOOL OR OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL”
Barış Düdü, Head of Eğitim-İş İzmir Branch No. 3, said that the latest data on child labor shows that children are not adequately protected both in education areas and in working life. Drawing attention to the data announced on child labor, Düdü said, "Unfortunately, our children are not protected at school or outside of school. We see before us a picture of the collapse of the social state."
Stating that in countries where poverty deepens, children, then women and the elderly suffer the most severe consequences, Düdü stated that economic conditions push children into working life at an early age. Düdü, who also criticized MESEM practices, said, "While child labor is widespread and encouraged by the government through MESEMs, children are forced to work even during their smallest holidays due to poverty. Thanks to the cheap labor force created, bosses add capital to their capital."
“IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO LOOK FOR THE PERPETRATOR AFTER CHILDREN ARE SHOT”
Barış Düdü stated that they prepared a report on the security problems in schools and forwarded the signatures of tens of thousands of citizens to the Ministry of National Education and said, "The duty of the state is not to look for the perpetrators after children are shot, but to prevent children from being shot. We have been warning the Ministry for months. We prepared a report, went to the fields, stood at the door of the Ministry of National Education. We said 'Schools are not safe'. We wanted a solution. However, responsibility was evaded. Gunshots were heard again in front of a school. It is not a responsibility to be upset after every incident. Expressing condolences is a precaution. "It is not an education policy. The state's duty is not to search for perpetrators after children are shot, but to prevent children from being shot," he said.
