One in five children faces deep poverty as Turkey’s new school year begins

Duvar English

Buğra Gökce, head of the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA) on Sept. 8 reminded that one in five children in Turkey faced deep poverty as they would begin the new school year.  

Gökce shared economic data on social media platform X regarding the new school year starting on September 9. He noted that, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data, annual inflation in August reached 51.9 percent, while education expenses increased by 120 percent.

He pointed out, "Basic stationery expenses for students increased by 71.9 percent, school clothing expenses rose by 62.5 percent, and the cost of starting school went up by 64.9 percent."

17.5 million students are in formal education, according to Turkey’s Education Ministry (MEB). Of the 75,019 educational institutions, 60,734 are state-run, while 14,281 are private. 

Gökce commented that the share of private schools among all institutions has reached 19 percent for the first time in the country’s history, indicating that market dynamics have become dominant in education. 

Gökce also noted that out of the 17,558,025 students registered in compulsory formal education in public and private schools in Turkey, 442,643 were outside the system. 

“Although parents who do not send their children to school are supposed to face administrative fines or one year of imprisonment, this sanction is not effectively enforced," he wrote.

Children’s participation in the labor force increased in the last years as well, according to TÜİK data. The labor force participation rate of children aged 15-17 was 16.2 percent in 2020, but by 2023, this rate had risen to 22.1 percent, the highest in the past decade. 

Gökce added, “Official data indicated the number of child laborers as 853,000, but experts estimate that this number exceeded two million when including those working informally.”

Information shared by the Labor Health and Occupational Safety (İSİG) Council revealed that 695 child laborers died while working between 2013 and 2024.

He also touched upon Turkey’s international standing in child poverty. Accordingly, the country ranked first among OECD countries in child poverty. 

Gökce concluded that the spending on education had to increase, but instead, it has been decreasing steadily over the years. In 2002, the Education Ministry allocated 17 percent of its budget to investment; which had dropped to nine percent by 2023.