Health and Safety Labour Watch Turkey (ISIG) recently published a report detailing the fatalities of child workers in Turkey, revealing that at least 66 children died while working between September 2023 and August 2024. The report highlights the significant role of the Vocational Training Centres (MESEM) programme, which ISIG claims has normalised and institutionalised child labour, particularly in urban areas.
The report categorises child worker deaths by sector: 24 in agriculture, 17 in industry, 13 in construction and 12 in services. While agriculture still accounts for 36% of child worker deaths, a significant decrease from previous years when it accounted for around 65%, ISIG points to a worrying increase in urban child labour. They attribute this shift to worsening urban poverty and state policies such as MESEM, which they say have facilitated the exploitation of children in the industrial and service sectors.
Initiated by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2016, MESEM was developed following the overhaul of Turkey’s education system under the 4+4+4 model, which extended compulsory education from 8 to 12 years. The programme replaced the former Apprenticeship Education Centres, and integrated vocational education into the formal education system. MESEM involves students spending four days a week working in companies and only one day in school. ISIG claims that although the system is framed as a skills-based education programme, it is in fact a means of providing companies with free child labour.
Around 1.5 million students are enrolled in MESEM, 300,000 of whom are under the age of 18. Public funding to support this programme has increased sharply, with nearly 15 billion Turkish Liras allocated over the last three years. In 2024 alone, companies employing these student workers received nearly 1.7 billion liras in government support.
ISIG argues that MESEM does not provide proper vocational training, but instead uses children as cheap labour, contributing to the rise in child worker deaths, particularly in sectors such as construction, industry and long-distance transport. The report notes that many of the deaths were caused by accidents, such as being trapped in machinery or falling from heights on construction sites. It also highlights an increase in road traffic accidents as more children work as delivery drivers and transport assistants.
The report concludes with a number of urgent recommendations. ISIG calls for the abolition of MESEM, the introduction of strict penalties for employers who use child labour and a complete overhaul of Turkey’s vocational training system. The organisation also advocates free, accessible education for all children and calls on the Turkish government to provide daily meals in schools to combat malnutrition, a growing problem among impoverished children forced to work in harsh conditions.
