Say Yes, Autumn 2007: A letter from Tayfun Talipoğlu

Unfortunately there is still an incredible level of inequality between girls and boys in education in Turkey, to the detriment of girls. At UNICEF, we are lending all the support we can to tackling this sad and serious state of affairs.

Within the last three years, thanks to the girls’ education campaign Haydi Kızlar Okula!, 223,000 girls and 100,000 boys have started school or resumed their education from the point at which they left off. But we still have another 500,000 girls to get into school. Work with families is continuing, especially to persuade them to send their daughters to school. But the fact is that breaking down the resistance of the families generally depends on a school being available near to the place where they live.

The shortage of schools and classrooms became blatantly obvious in 2003. For want of space, we know of school principals who locked the doors during the registration period and and looked for somewhere to hide. A solution had to be found. In August 2004, at the inspiration and with the support of UNICEF, 70 prefabricated units were taken from the Marmara Earthquake Region and transported to Şanlıurfa. where they were converted into classrooms serving 5,000 pupils on a double–shift basis.

Since April, your generosity, and the generosity of people like you, has helped to put fully equipped prefabricated classrooms into service in Mardin, Kırşehir and Diyarbakır, with the support of the provincial governorates. In the weeks and months ahead, almost 200 more classrooms will be set up in ten different provinces. We are encouraged in our commitment to this happy task by the knowledge that all the money collected through the support of UNICEF and yourselves will be matched by the governorates with an equal amount. A prefabricated classroom which can be used by up to 100 children under the two–shift system costs YTL26,000. So for every YTL13,000 that we come up with, another 100 schoolchildren will be provided with a school close to their homes which they can attend in safety and with full peace of mind.

I directed the first opening ceremony in Mardin. The village of Eskin, in the Kızıltepe district, already had a school if the truth were told. But the classrooms were insufficient. With the backing of UNICEF, the problem was already being solved — not by talking about it endlessly, but by quickly installing prefabricated classrooms. Eskin village in Kızıltepe was just the first stop. That was where I met Semra. She was older than the other students. Her parents had chosen her role for her long ago. At the insistence of the state, she had studied up to grade five and learned to read and write. A few years later she would be married off. She was one of those who were most excited about the new classrooms. Her elders no longer had an excuse. The flicker in her heart at the opening of this school was reflected in the expression on her face. Actually, my dad wants me to go to school, she explained, but he said to me: ‘Nobody sends their daughter to Kızıltepe, so how can I send mine?

Yes, Semra can now go the school near her home. But let’s make an avalanche of classrooms and schools. I know that UNICEF has international experience in the area of prefabricated classrooms. They are an urgent solution to an urgent problem. They cost little, they are quick to install, they can be transported, and they last for at least 35 years. It is clear that they are a much handier option.

In short, I was a volunteer for this campaign, and I have decided to go on supporting it. You know how you always ask me, when I am out and about with the Bam Teli programme, What can we do for the children of this country? Now we are giving you the answer: COME AND JOIN US!

Yours sincerely,

Tayfun Talipoğlu
UNICEF Turkey Good Will Ambassador

NB: All donations to the National Committee are eligible for tax deduction.

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