Inequity in education is a complex issue that affects many countries, including Turkey, my home country. Both of my parents are first generation students. I grew up with hearing their stories regarding challenges of going to school and performing well despite the unjust obstacles. A lot of time has passed yet nothing changed. In fact it is worsening over time. After the pandemic, the inequality gap increased even in education. People with no access to internet received no education, even some of my classmates are now having difficulties catching up as they didn't have the lessons they needed.
Several factors contributee to educational inequality in Turkey, including:
Socioeconomic disparities: Children from low-income families are less likely to have access to quality education and may face barriers to completing their education. This can lead to a persistent cycle of poverty.
Regional disparities: Children living in rural or underdeveloped areas may have less access to quality education due to insufficient resources, trained teachers, and infrastructure.
Discrimination based on ethnicity: Children from minority ethnic groups, such as Kurds, may face discrimination and barriers to accessing education.
Gender disparities: Girls in Turkey are more likely to drop out of school than boys, which can limit their future opportunities.
Lack of early childhood education: Turkey has a low enrollment rate for early childhood education, which can hurt children's cognitive development and future academic success.
Insufficient funding for education: Despite the government's efforts to increase the financing of education, it remains inadequate to cover all the needs of the students.
These factors can lead to a situation where some children have better access to quality education than others, which can exacerbate existing socioeconomic disparities. Addressing these issues requires a multi-faceted approach, including increasing funding for education, providing targeted support for disadvantaged students and regions, and addressing discrimination and gender disparities.
I believe the picture I have taken explains a lot. This is from the day the teachers (of the school I was working for), one volunteer student, and I went to different houses and delivered staple food necessities to underprivileged families. In the place, we saw around ten children between the ages of 3-14, and the teachers told me that none were attending school. The oldest sister was looking after her siblings, and the father wasn't allowing any of them to attend any lessons. Seeing this and not being able to help them directly broke my heart. These bright children with lots of potential lack education and, therefore, an opportunity to have a bright future.
This is happening everywhere. I feel the intensity of this one because it happened before my eyes, and these are the families near the city center... Can you imagine how bad the situation is for children in rural areas? I know it is hard to imagine, but we cannot close our eyes to this reality. We have to fight for what is right.
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