Piroz Zırığ / JINHA

DİLOK -Children-workers break the pistachio to pay their school expenses in Antep. Two girls break the pistachios to pay their school expenses, their hands are not the student's hands.

I break the pictachios to buy pens and books

The sisters Leyla (12) and Fatma (14), break the pistachios for 8 tl per sack of 25 kg. Leyla Sökmen (12) said, "I have broken the pictachios for 5 years. We break the pictachios in winter and in the summer we break the walnuts. I help my sister as soon as I come back from school. I'm going to fifth class, I break the pictachios to pay my school expenses and buy pens and books."

We do not eat pictachios

Fatma Sökmen(14) does not go to school. She has broken the pictachios for 6 years. Fatma said, " We never eat the pictachios which we broke. The price of pictachios is so expensive. The Pistachios are weighed. They are weighed separately as unshelled, shelled and fractured. If one gram is less, the man pays us less. If large quantities are missing, they will never give us the work anymore. So we do not eat them."

The children in the education system

Many children have to work to pay their school expenses in Turkey. Some children shine shoes while others sell the wipes, chewing gums in the streets. Children workers show us the distortion of the education system in Turkey. In the majority of education systems in Europe give the scholarship in order to support the students. But Turkey stipulates to children for scholarships. The provisions for scholarship are like ; One of the parents should lost her/his life , the house should be rented, not having goods and property, etc…

(dk/gd)