We are deeply saddened by this unacceptable fact. We have changed the stories of 103 thousand 387 girls in order to ensure equal opportunity in education, and we want to reach out to 866 thousand of girls and rewrite their stories together!

As ÇYDD, we stand with our 866 thousand girls who cannot go to school and are held back from getting an education.

The Association for Supporting Contemporary Life (ÇYDD) has been working to end the discrimination experienced by girls in education since 1997 by using the motto "Let there be no girls who do not go to school" and on October 11, International Girls Day, ÇYDD drew attention to a painful picture by bringing up the number of girls who cannot go to school.

According to the news prepared by Mustafa Kömüş from BirGün Newspaper in the light of the "National Education Statistics - Formal Education 2021-2022" data announced by the Ministry of National Education (MEB) in September, more than 800 thousand girls could not receive education and the number of boys at all levels of education was higher than the number of girls.

ÇYDD, which has been producing solutions by referring not only to the socio-economic dimensions but also to the social and political aspects of the problems experienced in education since the day it was founded, pointed out that this terrible picture is proof that Turkey is taking a step backward; the association underlined that the spiral of inequality created by keeping girls away from education can cause great dangers.

DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATION IS GROWING, 866 THOUSAND GIRLS ARE NOT GOING TO SCHOOL

Speaking on October 11, International Day of the Girl Child, which was declared in order to prevent discrimination against girls all over the world and to ensure that they benefit equally and fully from children's rights, ÇYDD President Prof. Dr. Ayşe Yüksel said, "Currently, more than 800 thousand girls who need to be educated are not in school. This picture is unacceptable!"

Prof. Dr. Yüksel stated that according to the 2021-2022 formal education statistics announced by the Ministry of National Education, 866 thousand female students were excluded from education, "We are talking about a number of more than 800 thousand here, and apart from the fact that this is unacceptable, the fact that we see this with the data presented by the Ministry of National Education itself indicates an, even more, grave situation. We have brought education in our country to such a point that enough of our children who can create a new country are deprived of compulsory education and our future is darkened.  Discrimination against our girls, especially in access to education, has increased immensely. Exactly 25 years ago, the unforgettable President of our association Prof. Dr. Türkân Saylan gave us an ideal, and ambition while fighting for leprosy patients in every corner of Anatolia, by also supporting the education of the daughters of the families she treated, and by ensuring that they had access to education." 

Prof. Dr. Yüksel stated that today, in pursuit of that ideal, they are working for the education of girls and for creating equal opportunities in education for them.  She said, "Unfortunately, the picture we have encountered today has dealt a great blow to all these efforts, endeavors, and dreams of our girls; 866,000 of our girls do not have access to education. On the more painful side, this number increases as the level of education increases.  195,000 girls in primary school, 298,000 in middle school, and 373,000 in high school cannot go to school. The number of girls who are away from school reaches 866 thousand in total. When we add our girls studying in open education to this number, more than 1.5 million girls are left out of education." 

"WE CAN'T TURN A BLIND EYE TO THIS PICTURE"

Prof. Dr. Yüksel said that the picture that emerged with the statistics of the Ministry of National Education was very worrying and she said, "We cannot tolerate a number like 866 thousand, we cannot ignore this picture. The ever-changing education system, 4+4+4, education policies that cannot produce solutions not only spread unqualified education, but also try to completely cut off girls from a life of education and thus from work and social life, and to leave them behind in life.  We will never allow that! As ÇYDD, we stand with our 866 thousand girls who cannot go to school and are left away from education. We are looking for 866 thousand of girls; we want to hear their stories from them and share their dreams. We will start to work to find out why they are away from education, where they are now, and what they are doing" she said.

103 THOUSAND 387 FEMALE STUDENTS AND 18 EDUCATION SUPPORT PROJECTS

Prof. Dr. Yüksel stated that their biggest goal in their 33-year journey of modernity as ÇYDD was to reach contemporary society through modern education by keeping Atatürk's revolution and principles alive.  She said, ‘’Under the leadership of Türkân Hoca, we carried out work to ensure gender equality by supporting the education of our girls and we became a light for thousands of our female students.  With our efforts to protect secular, scientific, and co-education, we have provided educational support to 103 thousand 387 female students today. At the same time, with the foresight that graduating from formal education alone will not be enough, we develop projects in which our students can gain different competencies in social, personal, and intellectual terms.  Today, we raise awareness in various fields with our 18 educational support projects; we support our girls to realize their dreams by providing them with 21st-century skills and competencies.  But that is never enough!  As ÇYDD, we have never compromised on the idea of "being a part of the solution, not the problem", and we will never do so! For the sake of contemporary education and the future of our girls, the real problems in education need to be identified and comprehensive education policies need to be implemented urgently. Until this happens, we will continue to work non-stop and support our students. We will not leave our 866,000 girls behind, and we will rekindle hope."