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Distr.GENERAL E/CN.4/2002/60/Add.2 27 March 2002 ENGLISH ONLY |
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Report submitted by Katarina Tomaševski, Special Rapporteur
on the right to education Mission to Turkey Executive summary The Special Rapporteur undertook her mission to Turkey at a time of change, which made it difficult to organize and carry out. Nevertheless, the possibility of contributing to the full integration of human rights in the ongoing law and economic reform made her mission worthwhile. Rather than assessing the fate of the right to education in the past, the mission was forward-looking. It took place from 3 to 10 February 2002, in a particularly eventful week. The evolving legislative changes focused on the finalization of the short-term programme aimed at Turkey. s membership in the European Union. Broadening and deepening human rights safeguards is the key objective of that programme and the programme to follow. Hence, the Special Rapporteur has prioritized those issues where constitutional and legal safeguards necessitate adjustment to international human rights requirements. At the same time, international support for Turkey. s strategy for coping with economic crisis has created possibilities for conceptualizing post-crisis development, thus opening the way for the mainstreaming of human rights. A comprehensive rights-based strategy for education would elevate the priority for education in budgetary allocation and enhance regulatory and institutional coherence as human rights obligations pertain to all parts of the Government. To the extent permitted by the constraints of the brevity of the Special Rapporteur. s mission and her consequent inability to schedule meetings outside Ankara, her visit included meetings with government officials and representatives of international organizations, teachers and students, human rights educators and human rights organizations. Her analysis encompassed domestic and international actors, as well as the legal and extra-legal framework for education. In accordance with her mandate, the focus was on the elimination of obstacles and difficulties for the full realization of the right to education. The Special Rapporteur has applied her 4-A scheme as analytical framework and this report summarizes her key findings and recommendations relating to the Government. s human rights obligations to make education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The key to making education available is the financial and human resources devoted to it. The recent prolongation of compulsory education from five to eight years, as well as Turkey. s young population, requires increasing the budgetary allocations for education much more than has been done thus far. The Special Rapporteur recommends that it be increased to 6 per cent of GNP, as recommended by UNESCO. This would make many needed improvements possible and enhance the quality of education. The necessity of rapidly increasing the number of teachers calls, in the Special Rapporteur. s view, for a long-term strategy to enhance the status of teachers. Full recognition of their trade union freedoms and institutionalization of teachers. participation in decision-making could significantly enhance the quality of teaching and learning. The Special Rapporteur deems that the principle of non-discrimination should constitute the pillar of education, human rights and development. The existing prohibitions on discrimination are merely the first step. A comprehensive strategy for the elimination of discrimination is necessary and the Special Rapporteur recommends that priority be accorded to gender. Moreover, the existing statistics do not reveal the nature and extent of discrimination on all prohibited grounds, such as ethnic origin, religion or language. Thus, creating rights-based statistics is necessary for ensuring the exercise of the right to education without any discrimination. Lacking human rights safeguards for the acceptability of education were brought to the Special Rapporteur. s attention throughout her mission. Headscarves have become a symbol of the underlying controversy regarding secularism and freedom of religion, but the discriminatory impact of exclusion from education on girls and women wearing headscarves is not being addressed. Language engenders even more controversy, also overshadowing its human rights dimensions. Mother-tongue education is in the best interest of non-Turkish-speaking children so as to enable them to exercise their right to education in the education system, whose language of instruction is Turkish. Decision-making on the teaching and learning of foreign languages, has been, in the case of Kurdish, dwarfed by national-security concerns. Introducing the human rights approach would, in the Special Rapporteur. s view, facilitate solving underlying problems. The connections between in-school and out-of-school education reveal the need gradually to integrate human rights into the aims and purposes of education, which were defined in the 1920s. The necessity of adapting education to the exercise of all human rights and fundamental freedoms is also exemplified by the paradox of child labour alongside graduate unemployment. The Special Rapporteur deems that a participatory process of defining a long-term vision of education could trigger a change from looking back to looking forward, into the future. This would also constitute an opportunity for facilitating the necessary human rights adjustments through Turkey broadening its commitment to international human rights law by ratifying all international human rights treaties, lifting reservations, and making international human rights law directly applicable.
Introduction [ Go to Contents ] 1. The Special Rapporteur carried out her mission to Turkey at a time of ongoing and rapid transition: one facet consisted of legal reform triggered by Turkey. s prospective membership in the European Union; another concentrated on coping with a profound economic crisis. Thus, her visit to Turkey was difficult to organize and carry out. As her mandate is orientated towards the elimination of obstacles and difficulties for the full enjoyment of the right to education, foresight is preferable to hindsight. Her aim was to analyse the process of change so as to generate recommendations regarding full integration of human rights in legislative reforms, as well as in economic and fiscal policies. This report strives to capture key issues that the Special Rapporteur examined and recommendations are included throughout. Country missions and reports based on them do not constitute self-contained activities but the beginning of a process. She is therefore looking forward to continuing dialogue with the Government of Turkey and the many interlocutors she talked to during her mission, and to contributing to the elimination of obstacles to the full enjoyment of the right to education in the follow-up to her mission. 2. Following the request by the Special Rapporteur of 21 September 2001 to carry out a mission to Turkey in 2001, the Government invited her to visit the country but requested the postponement of her mission to 2002. The Special Rapporteur was particularly keen on visiting Turkey during the ongoing law and economic reform programmes that are particularly relevant for education. Her visit to Turkey, from 3 to 10 February 2002, took place in a particularly eventful week. The finalization of the short-term programme for Turkey. s membership in the European Union, from March 2001 to March 2002, centred on legislative changes. Human rights safeguards formed the pillar of that programme and the same is anticipated for the coming year. At the same time, international support for Turkey. s strategy for coping with economic crisis has intensified. A great deal of publicity followed the approval of a $16 billion stand-by loan by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 4 February 2002. Much as in other countries, there is a schism between the worlds of economics, education and human rights. The mainstreaming of human rights therefore constitutes the Special Rapporteur. s key recommendation. 3. To the extent permitted by the constraints of the brevity of her mission and her consequent inability to schedule meetings outside Ankara, her visit included meetings with government officials and representatives of international organizations. She met with teachers and students, human rights and child-rights educators and visited human rights organizations. The official part of her programme was finalized during the visit. It included all the meetings that the Special Rapporteur had requested, with two exceptions that are noted in this report. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organized the visit and a staff member of the OHCHR accompanied the Special Rapporteur. The support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) facilitated solving all the problems that such a mission inevitably faces. She acknowledges with gratitude the friendly, generous and efficient help of UNDP and the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC). 4. Country missions are aimed at enabling the Special Rapporteur to collect first-hand information from a wide range of actors in order to assess the state of progressive realization of the right to education with a view to formulate recommendations for the elimination of obstacles and difficulties. Their timing is crucial for their usefulness. The Special Rapporteur therefore scheduled her mission early in the process of change so as to facilitate human rights mainstreaming during its continuation. Her mandate enables bringing together international and domestic, legal and extra-legal perspectives, and analysing them within the human rights framework. Experience in promoting the full realization of the right to education has shown, worldwide, that the human rights impact of fiscal allocations ought to be discussed alongside education law, that eliminating discrimination in practice necessitates rights-based statistics alongside law and corollary development strategy. 5. There was a wide disparity of views on every issue that the Special Rapporteur examined during her mission. According to some domestic actors, the realization of the right to education was progressing; others held that it was regressing. Changes in human rights safeguards, both education-specific and general, were deemed by some to be profound and far-reaching, by others to be merely cosmetic. There were also differences between the expectations and priorities of various international and foreign actors. Some have prioritized Turkey. s active involvement in the international war against terrorism, emphasizing its status of geopolitical pivot and its membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Others have focused on the servicing of foreign and domestic debt. Yet others have prioritized elimination of gender discrimination or, generally, improvement in the enjoyment of human rights. 6. To the extent permitted by the United Nations rules concerning the length of reports, the Special Rapporteur has endeavoured to reflect the nature and scope of different - sometimes even contradictory - perspectives. Many varied approaches and lines of argument that permeate different political and public debates are not reflected herein. Rather, this report highlights the human rights dimensions which are often absent from such debates. The integration of human rights would facilitate a move from problem identification to problem solving. The universality of human rights provides approaches and solutions that have been field-tested worldwide. 7. The Special Rapporteur has applied her 4-A scheme as analytical framework. After a brief review of the context in which bridges between the past and future are being built, this report summarizes her key findings and recommendations relating to the Government. s human rights obligations to make education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. I.THE CONTEXT [ Go to Contents ] 8. The Turkish word that the Special Rapporteur could not help learning during her mission was kriz (crisis). Turkey is indeed undergoing a deep and multifaceted crisis.All facets of this crisis are reflected in education. Vision, persistence and considerable investment in education will be needed to enable education to respond to the existing problems and to help solve them. 9. Turkey. s GNP declined by an estimated 8.5 per cent in 2001 and the Government acknowledged that the country was undergoing a deep economic recession. Kemal Dervish, the Minister for the Economy, noted on 4 February 2002 that Turkey was overcoming its worst recession since 1945, but effects on unemployment and impoverishment could be expected only when economic growth rose to 6 or 7 per cent. As in similar situations, the economic crisis has been coupled by increasing intolerance of corruption and diminishing popular support for coping strategies that have not, as yet, halted the worsening economic conditions affecting the majority of the population. Claims have been made that unemployment has reached 7 million people, out of whom 2 million lost their jobs in 2001 alone. 10. Coping with the economic crisis has created a considerable challenge for the Government.After nine changes of government in as many years, the current three-party coalition has continued for more than two years. Following the elections in April 1999, a three-party coalition was formed by the Democratic Left Party (DSP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the Motherland Party (ANAP).While there was no apparent disagreement regarding economic policy during the Special Rapporteur. s visit, law reform focusing on redefining criminal offences revealed diverse views.These illustrated the tension between change and continuity. 11. Indeed, many unrelated events highlighted diverse facets of education that stemmed from the heritage of the past seven decades. The sixty-fifth anniversary of secularism as the constitutional principle prompted the President, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, to point out that "without secularism, democracy and freedom cannot exist". Another pillar of Turkey. s system of education, its centralized structure, was left unaltered for the moment because of disagreements regarding the transfer of responsibilities from the central to the local authorities. 12. In 1997 compulsory education was prolonged from five to eight years. In its National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA), Turkey anticipated increasing compulsory education to the European Union average of 9 to 12 years. The eighth Five-year Development Plan posited lengthening compulsory education to 12 years by 2005. The required long-term commitment, involving a significant increase of financial and human resources, is a huge challenge for the Government. Moreover, the interrelationship between governmental obligations relating to the provision of education and those pertaining to human rights safeguards, such as freedom of education and freedom in education, necessitate a linkage between economics, education and human rights. The historical heritage provides the background for programming reforms so that both "hardware" and "software" of education can be adjusted to the new millennium. A.The heritage of the past seven decades [ Go to Contents ] 13. As in many other countries, education in Turkey was initially religious. Secular education was introduced during the Ottoman empire in 1839. The predecessor of today. s Ministry of Education was established in 1847, the first training centre for civil servants in 1859 and the first university in 1863. The 1876 Constitution mandated compulsory primary education for all. The seeds of an all-encompassing free secular education and a matching administrative infrastructure had been sown. Schools with French as the language of instruction, or those where Muslim and Christian pupils were educated together, demonstrated innovative features of that time. 14. The establishment of the Turkish Republic was followed by the unification of education, making all schools subordinate to the Ministry of National Education. Education was made compulsory for both sexes. Nation-building was translated into unilingualism, patriotism and nationalism in education. Forging a new identity was hastened by the 1927 language law, with a shift to Turkish as the language of instruction. The introduction of the Latin alphabet represented a break away from the Ottoman-Islamic heritage, embodied in the Arabic and Persian languages. Cherishing "the esteem of the glorious Turkish history" and honouring "the great Turks whose services have made the great Turkish nation" became part of the curriculum. The recent introduction of human rights education has created the need to examine the orientation and contents of the curricula and textbooks, and the methods of instruction, in order to integrate human rights rather than keeping separate human rights courses as an add-on. 16. The indivisibility of human rights necessitates examining the linkage between education and work, especially for those whose formal education ends with compulsory schooling. A minuscule percentage of the children who start at the bottom of the education pyramid make it to the top. For example, Douglas Frantz has cited an unnamed source from the Government positing that only one child in five attends school beyond the age of 14. A common estimate is that only 10 per cent of applicants secure a place at university, testifying to the competitiveness within the education system. The increasing cost of education is likely to reinforce the need for a comprehensive, rights-based strategy for education. The European Union has prioritized increasing investment in education and the broad range of human rights issues that are being considered may well constitute an incentive for creating such a rights-based strategy. B.Anticipated admission to the European Union as the catalyst for change [ Go to Contents ] 17. Turkey has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1949 and of NATO since 1952. An association agreement with the European Communities followed in 1963, as did Turkey. s first application for membership, rejected in 1989. This rejection was remedied in December 1999, when the Helsinki Summit elevated Turkey to a formally recognized applicant for membership in the European Union. The Accession Partnership with Turkey was adopted in March 2001, laying down "the roadmap for Turkey to comply with the criteria for accession". This was followed by Turkey. s National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA) in March 2001, and by the 2001 Regular Report on Turkey. s Progress towards Accession in November 2001. 18. The three stages in Turkey. s constitutional change - in 1983, 1995 and 2001 - were associated with negotiations with the European Union. A wide range of human rights issues has been raised in European Union relations with Turkey in the past decades: the lack of safeguards against torture, an open-ended definition of terrorism encompassing publication of texts critical of the Government. s human rights policy, the denial of minority rights to Kurds, or the military occupation of northern Cyprus (the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is recognized by Turkey alone), which has been dealt with by the European Commission and Court of Human Rights as of 1975. 19. Efforts to introduce human rights conditions into the European Union. s relations with Turkey first came to public attention in 1981-1982, in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup. The 1982 Constitution, adopted during the military rule, was altered in 1995 and again in 2001. In 1995-1996, the European Parliament made human rights in Turkey its most widely publicized agenda item, first refusing and then granting assent to the customs treaty with Turkey. Just after the customs treaty was approved, 10 contributors to a book published by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey under the title We Protect Human Rights with Imperfect Constitution and Laws were indicted for a criminal offence of insulting the "laws of the Republic of Turkey". 20. In 2001, the 523-page National Programme anticipated almost 200 pieces of legislation to be adopted or amended. That Programme did not refer to a number of key issues that the European Union had been raising, such as the civilian control over the military, or cultural rights (especially mother-tongue education), or freedom of religion for Muslim and non-Muslim communities. On 3 October 2001, on the eve of the European Union. s annual assessment of prospects for membership of individual applicants, Turkey. s Parliament (Grand National Assembly) adopted 34 constitutional amendments. The immediate aftermath of this constitutional change did not instil enthusiasm. Commissioner Gunther Verheugen agreed with the assessment of the European Parliament that "the actual human rights situation as it affects individuals in Turkey has not improved". 21. At the time of the Special Rapporteur. s mission, the legislative changes planned to be finished by March 2002, nicknamed "the mini-democracy package", were the focus of public attention. These aimed at translating the constitutional amendments of October 2001 into legislation. The outcome may have been unsatisfactory for all concerned. The effects and impact will be seen later, through judicial interpretations of legislative changes. Altered descriptors of criminal offences against national security may be guided by the specific formulations in the law or by the thrust of the Constitution, which prioritizes "Turkish national interests". At the time of these legislative amendments, there was a great deal of publicity regarding the judgements against Turkey by the European Court of Human Rights. These have illustrated the progress attained within Europe in supranational enforcement of human rights safeguards. The trend towards making international human rights directly applicable may represent an option that would reduce the time and effort needed to adapt Turkey. s law to international human rights requirements. C. Prospects for direct application of international human rights law [ Go to Contents ]
22. Turkey has been selective in becoming a party to international human rights treaties. Among the human rights treaties dealing with education which entail reporting, Turkey is party to only two - the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as of 1986 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (albeit with a number of reservations) as of 1995. As a member of the Council of Europe, it is party to the European Convention on Human Rights, which constitutes (alongside the ILO) the sole venue for international remedies for human rights violations. Almost 200 cases against Turkey were examined in Strasbourg during the past year alone, and quite a few judgements by the European Court of Human Rights addressed human rights safeguards relating to education. 23. The Special Rapporteur met the Minister of State for Human Rights, Nejat Arseven, who provided her with a candid assessment of recent, ongoing and forthcoming law reform in the field of human rights. Legislative activity in Turkey has indeed been evolving at breakneck pace, with more than 100 new laws adopted in 2001 and a similar number is planned for 2002. The speed and the scope of law reform have created an enormous task for all involved. Implementation is much more important than design, however. The Special Rapporteur deems that direct application of international human rights treaties would dispense with the time-consuming process of amending a variety of laws, as well as ensuring the conformity of domestic and international jurisprudence. 24. An additional benefit of making international human rights treaties, starting with the European Convention on Human Rights, directly applicable would be certitude about the status of international human rights law in Turkey. Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution stipulates that ratified international treaties should take precedence over domestic legislation. Any law that is in conflict with international treaties should thus automatically become invalid. Nevertheless, human rights safeguards are defined through authoritative interpretation of the Constitution, which prevails over international treaties. The Constitution. s preamble emphasizes that "no protection shall be accorded to an activity contrary to Turkish national interests". Article 176 of the Constitution states that the Preamble articulates the basic constitutional principles, which form "the apex of the hierarchy of legal sources". Interpretations of the nature and scope of human rights by Turkey. s judiciary and the European Court of Human Rights may differ, prolonging legal insecurity for the duration of court cases, which sometimes take a full decade. Ultimately, changes in Turkey. s law and practice following judgements of the European Court of Human Rights would definitely settle any divergent views as to the "living law" (as different from "the law on the books"). This complicated and protracted process requires, in the Special Rapporteur. s opinion, urgent attention. II.AVAILABILITY OF EDUCATION [ Go to Contents ] A.Budgetary allocations [ Go to Contents ] 25. The key to making education available is financial and human resources. The prolongation of compulsory education from five to eight years, as well as Turkey. s young population, requires increasing the budgetary allocations for education much more than has been done thus far. The Special Rapporteur recommends that it be increased to 6 per cent of GNP, as recommended by UNESCO, so as to make the many needed improvements possible. 26. Indeed, Turkey. s demographic structure should make education an absolute priority for the Government. More than one quarter of the population are encompassed by the formal schooling system from pre-school to secondary education. Furthermore, comparative studies of educational accomplishments in the OECD countries routinely locate Turkey at the bottom, regardless of the yardstick used. Elevating the priority of education in budgetary allocations seems clearly indicated, as does an overall public expenditure review. 27. Expansion and prolongation of compulsory schooling has not been supported by an adequate increase in public expenditure on education. Primary education was allocated 1.7 per cent of GNP in 1990; this allocation increased to 2.1 per cent in 1992 and diminished again to 1.4 per cent in 1997. In 1990, when there were 11.7 million pupils, the Ministry of Education was allocated 13.2 per cent of the consolidated government budget. In 1999, when the number of pupils grew to 15 million, this proportion decreased to 7.85 per cent. Alaaddin Dincer, on behalf of teachers. unions, highlighted on 24 October 2001 the uncertain prospects for education in the Government. s budget. Although the budgetary allocation to education had increased in 2001 to 8.4 per cent, he feared a decrease to 7.4 per cent for 2002, in accordance with the Government. s projections. Varying figures were given to the Special Rapporteur regarding recent and ongoing changes in budgetary and extrabudgetary allocations for education, and she will closely monitor all available sources of information. 28. On 20 November 2001, Turkey sent the Letter of Intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) describing its commitments regarding an anticipated $3 billion under the standby arrangement from the IMF. Amongst these commitments was that of reducing "the weight of public expenditure on the real economy", which would particularly affect the civil and/or public service. Personnel costs were to be limited; recruitment kept to a minimum. Security, education and health were exempt from the replacement hiring ratio of 50 per cent, but only the military was free from the ban on new hiring. 29. Turkey. s military expenditure, 4 per cent of GNP and 14 per cent of the government budget, considerably contributes to the "weight on the real economy". There is a noticeable, albeit seldom discussed, imbalance between military expenditure and investment in education in Turkey. The need to review military expenditure because of its high opportunity cost was singled out by the donor community in the mid-1990s, including by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this issue may have fallen into oblivion in the meantime, although its human rights dimensions have grown in importance. Key safeguards enabling public participation and accountability are freedom of information and political rights. Prioritizing human rights in allocations represents the core governmental obligation, especially with respect to economic and social rights. 30. Financing basic education was assessed in 1999 by the Government to lie beyond its means, hence an "application for a World Bank loan became essential". There are many different views on the availability and destination of public funds. Different explanations for the outcomes of resource allocation are offered. No more than a sample can be cited here. A study by the Turkish Union of Chambers has alleged that $195 billion were squandered in the past decade, mostly through endemic corruption. Osman Zekai Orhan of Marmara University has claimed that the Government spent 60 per cent of its revenue on servicing its domestic debt in the past decade. The Government. s guarantee of all bank deposits transferred the debts of failed banks into public debt, adding an estimated $10 to 12 billion, and reportedly spent 92 per cent of its tax revenue in the first half of 2001 on interest payments on its debt. 31. It is in the situation of a profound crisis that the cross-sectoral nature of both education and human rights becomes clearly visible. Education cannot be isolated from macroeconomic and fiscal policies, nor can funding for education remain unaffected by other claims upon limited public funds or immune to corruption. 32. Budgetary allocations and safeguards against corruption require transparency and public participation in decision-making. The indivisibility of human rights suggests solutions: full access to information is necessary for public debate on the linkage between revenue and expenditure, priorities in budgetary allocations require transparency, and freedom to articulate different proposals and underlying arguments. Nominal allocations may become significantly reduced as they flow towards their intended beneficiaries unless there are effective safeguards against corruption. 33. Combating corruption is difficult because a newspaper article exposing corruption may lead to the journalist being indicted for "insulting the State" and facing the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence. Prosecution of persons suspected of corruption may be impeded by their parliamentary immunity. If the suspect is a civil servant or public employee, permission to prosecute must be obtained from the relevant authority. Safeguards are slanted and tend to shield corruption rather than protecting those whose freedom from corruption should be ensured and be seen to be ensured. 34. Much as any other area, education is not exempt from unofficial reports about the incidence and prevalence of corruption. As elsewhere, these feed speculation and foster distrust. Foreign and international aid aimed at helping the poor has been affected by corruption, including financial assistance aimed at overcoming financial obstacles to access to education for the poorest. B. The teaching profession [ Go to Contents ] 35. The need for rapid hiring of additional teachers originated from the prolongation of compulsory schooling from 5 to 8 years in 1997. The Letter of Sector Policy by the Minister of Education of 26 May 1998 noted that 150,000 new teachers had to be hired over the coming three years. Education International has reported that schoolchildren between the ages of 12 and 14 were put on trial in 1999 for demonstrating with a sign, "We want teachers". The Government reported that it had appointed 156,476 teachers in 1997-2000, and the Special Rapporteur was informed by the Ministry of Education that there was no shortage of teachers. Much more important than numbers are qualities needed for the process of teaching to enhance the parallel process of learning, such as qualifications and motivation, as well as the overall attractiveness of teaching as a profession. The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned about the effects and impact of the rapid increase in the number of teachers in the past four years. Moreover, the full recognition of trade union freedoms and the institutionalization of teachers’ participation in decision-making would significantly benefit the quality of teaching and thus also improve learning. 36. Overcoming the shortage of teachers created by the prolongation of compulsory education included short-term measures, such as pre- and in-service training. One obstacle to improving the status of teachers is low salaries, determined by rank in the civil service and affected by the generally low salaries. A teacher’s monthly salary in July 2001 ranged between US$ 122 and 283 (LT 170 to LT 397 million), which was in many places below the poverty line. During her mission, the Special Rapporteur was informed by the Ministry of Education that an average teacher’s salary in Ankara could be about LT 500 million, while newspapers reported the poverty line as LT 935 million for a family or four. 37. The unattractiveness of teaching as a profession in the light of such low salary levels has, to the Special Rapporteur’s immense surprise, not yet led to discussion of a post-crisis strategy for the teaching profession. Treating teaching as a low-paid temporary alternative for jobs that graduates may aspire to but cannot obtain, or as a wife’s job supplementing her husband’s salary, does not provide the foundations for the quality and commitment of teachers that all Governments want for their young generations and all parents for their children. It is on such issues that the voice of teachers themselves becomes crucial to designing any self-sustaining strategy. 38. As of 1997, teachers have been permitted to form and join trade unions, but they are encompassed by restrictions upon the entire public and civil service and their right to strike and their right of collective bargaining are not recognized. The 1997 change took place after many cases had been litigated internationally, especially before the International Labour Organization (ILO). Indeed, various restrictions on trade union freedoms in Turkey were on the ILO agenda 18 times in the past 20 years. The denials of teachers’ right to form trade unions and various punitive measures taken against trade union leaders led to precedent-setting decisions, but these have not yet been fully implemented by the Government of Turkey. Moreover, Turkish law has not yet been fully adjusted to the international human rights requirements as teachers (and other public employees) still do not enjoy the right to strike or the right of collective bargaining. The Special Rapporteur will follow developments as part of her cooperation with the ILO and hopes that the process of adjusting Turkish law to international human rights requirements, in which new legislation of July 2001 constituted an important step, will progress further in the near future. |