School Starts at Last for Sanliurfa Children

Some 30,000 children who work in cotton fields in Sanliurfa are returning to their schools, which they had to leave in the second term of the last education year. The children, who are forced to work to contribute financially to their families, are three months behind their peers, who began this year's term on September 12.

Halil Omer Coskun, the deputy head of Sanliurfa Provincial National

Education, said 28,728 children left school in March and June to work in the fields. He added this figure makes up 10 percent of the total number of

elementary school students in the town.

Make-up classes from the National Education Directorate

Coskun said they had not yet come up with a solution to this problem. As a first step, they would try to make up for the delay through extra classes, he said. "About 8-10 students in each class return to school with a three month delay," said Coskun. "It is usually very difficult for these children to catch up with their friends. We are working with the ministry to find a solution to this problem. There is no standard solution yet, but we are thinking about putting these children in the same class."

According to Coskun, these children leave school around mid-March and return in the beginning of November. A survey has revealed that 11,189 of these children are girls and 17,593 are boys.

283 million children across the globe can't go to school because they work

Millions of children around the world work under conditions that do not

comply with international standards, and that negatively affect their

physical, mental, educational, social, emotional and cultural development.

According to research by the International Labour Organization (ILO), around the world there are 250 million children between 5-14 years old who work. The same research has revealed that 283 million children between 12-17 years cannot attend school because they work.

Official figures from six years ago show that there are 6.5 million children

working in Turkey

Although it is illegal in Turkey for children under 14 years old and children who have not completed their elementary school education to work, 1999 figures from the State Statistics Institute show that there are 511,000 children in Turkey between 6-14 years old who work. According to the DIE figures, which are based on a study conducted in 1999, and which do not include those working in the unregistered economy, 6.5 million children, out of a total of 16 million between 6-17 years old, work. Some 1,700,000 work in the agriculture, industry and service sectors. 4,800,000 children do housework.

38.4 percent of children between 6-17 years-old who work, do so to contribute financially to their families, 19.8 percent do so to help in family businesses, and 15.9 percent work because their family forces them to. 10.4 percent work to learn a skill and get a job.

The Regulation on the Method and Principals to Employ Child and Young

Workers was amended to comply with European Union norms and went into effect after being published in the Official Gazette on April 6, 2004.

According to this regulation,

* Every individual under 18 is regarded as a child.

* It is illegal for children under 14 years old, and who have not completed

elementary school education, to work.

* 14 year-old children who have completed elementary school education and who are not 15 yet, are described as "child workers."

* Children between 15 and 18 who work are described as "young workers."

The regulation also puts limitations on working hours:

* Children, who go to school, can only work outside school hours during the semester and for a maximum of two hours a day and a maximum of 10 hours a week;

* Children, who go to school, can work for a maximum of seven hours a day during holidays, and a maximum of 35 hours a week;

* Children under 15, who do not go to school, can work for a maximum of eight hours a day, and a maximum of 40 hours a week. (KO/EA/YE)