The issues surrounding distance learning are yet to be resolved in Turkey. The latest example of this was seen in Istanbul. An 8 year old boy has lost his life falling from the rooftop whilst attempting to resolve connection issues with internet.
Eylem NAZLIER
Çınar Mert was only 8 years of age. He lived in Esenyurt İncirtepe district of Istanbul, a poor neighbourhood. Due to the issues with the infrastructure in this area he could not access the internet for a long time. Hence, his father requested the permission of his neighbour to extend his internet line in order to help Cinar access his online learning.
Cinar’s father climbed up to the roof to wire the internet line. Unfortunately, he was followed by Cinar who slipped and fell from the roof of his 4th floor house and lost his life. Father Önder Mert said "We tried very hard to save up for a computer which my son could not even turn on. Nothing can bring our son back. We were told that education is free and equal to everyone. Unfortunately, our experience has proved that wrong. The government has emptied the education system. They have failed. We are full of deep sorrow. What else can we say?"
As the issues relating to the poor infrastructure and accessibility issues are growing so are the deaths caused by this. In Konya, the baby of a teacher couple fell from the balcony and died whilst they were both teaching remotely.
Aziz Serin, a 50 year old teacher from Maraş, has lost his life after climbing a hill to receive better signal to continue his online lessons.
Speaking to our newspaper, Cinar's father said "His class teacher said that they had no contact with around 10 students. These are lost students. They have no internet and cannot benefit from online learning. The government has emptied out our education system. They have failed. Hundreds of thousands of students cannot access education."
Feray Aytekin Aydoğan, chair of the teachers' union (Eğitim-Sen) in Turkey, said that the issues relating to poor infrastructure, network and access to computers have been prominent since the onset of the pandemic:
"The government has taken no action to resolve the issues. All these issues could have been resolved by now. The government could have used the reserve funds to help our students, they could have taken better precautions to reopen schools. Our students are trying very hard to access online learning. The most basic principle of education is equality. The government should provide free computers to enable those children access online learning. The issues surrounding internet signal should be resolved as a matter of urgency. The internet should be provided free of charge and with no limits to those who need it. Despite being aware of these issues the Education Secretary is choosing to do nothing. The Education Secretary is responsible for the needs of the students who qualify for 12 years of compulsory education. The Education Secretary should act immediately to resolve the inequality experienced by many students’.
Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) MP Ali Şeker said "A child has died whilst trying to access the internet. The issues caused by the privatisation of the telecommunication network are presenting themselves more openly during these difficult times. The internet providers have done nothing to help during these unprecedented times. They have increased their charges, let alone helping. The government should have acted in a manner to enable all school age children to access home learning during these hard times."
Yücel Özdemir
Ceren Sözeri
Yusuf Karadaş