60 percent of college students are below the poverty line.

According to the ‘Youth Poverty File’ published by the CHP Poverty Solidarity Office, as the 2023-2024 academic year approaches, the number of students who barely make ends meet due to economic difficulties and who They even consider suspending their studies.

On the other hand, various fundamental rights of young people such as housing, education and food are violated.

The report draws attention to the rates of increase in meal rates in schools that announce their prices, the difficulties experienced by students in terms of food and the crisis in accommodation.

THE KYK SCHOLARSHIP DOES NOT COVER FOOD FEES

Although only a few schools have announced their current cafeteria prices, Hacettepe University, which is one of the schools that announced their current cafeteria prices, increased meal fees by 76 percent, while METU announced the meal fee at 15 TL with an Increase of 80 percent.

The report recalled that a KYK scholarship of 1,250 TL was awarded to associate and university students, and highlighted that the monthly meal cost of a university student who eats three meals in the school cafeteria is 1,275 TL.

The report noted that the monthly meal fee was above the scholarship amount and said: “Such a rapid increase in meal fees has exceeded the current scholarships allocated to students for nutrition alone. “This prevents students from students exercise their right to a fair education in a sustainable and healthy way, which threatens their access to educational opportunities.”

THE STUDENT WHO IS NOT ADMITTED TO THE DORMITORY HAS NO OTHER RESOLUTION

The report states that the problems faced by young people who resort to methods such as public dormitories, private dormitories and renting houses have further deepened in the 2023-2024 academic year, and that there is a dormitory crisis in major universities in Istanbul .

The report notes that according to a survey conducted by the Dormitory Work Committee of the Boğaziçi University Student Representative Board (ÖTK), 88 percent of the students who participated in the survey were unable to obtain the right to dormitory accommodation and 89 percent came from outside Istanbul. .

Only 7.6 percent of students who participated in the survey and did not qualify for a dormitory had the financial opportunity to consider renting a dormitory or a private house, while 52.2 percent stated that they did not have the financial resources necessary for this.

IN BOĞAZİÇİ, 53 PERCENT WAS NOT ACCEPTED

Of the students who participated in the survey and did not qualify for a dorm, 39 were earthquake victims, 73 were scholarship students, and 62 were low-income students. In addition, 27 students reported living off the pension of one or both retired parents. According to the survey, 70 percent of students in difficult situations were women.

According to the IMM report on dormitory crisis by the ÖTK Dormitory Study Commission; It was found that 1,400 of the approximately 2,600 university students who stayed in residences last year were not provided with a residence and that at least half of these people did not have the budget to stay elsewhere.

THE PRICE OF THE HOUSE NEAR THE UNIVERSITY INCREASED BY 151.4 PERCENT

The report states that students’ access to the right to housing was affected by the increase in housing rents in large cities such as Ankara, Istanbul, Eskişehir, Izmir and Istanbul, and the following determinations were made:

* When we look at the rental prices of the 100. Yıl Labor Bloks neighborhood, where university students live in Ankara and known as the METU student neighborhood, we see that the rental price per square meter has increased by 151.4 percent in the last anus.

* In Eskişehir, there is a similar 138.35 percent increase in rentals for housing near the university.

*The amount of money left for a student staying in the KYK dormitory after staying in the cheapest KYK room is 905 TL.

* Eat 2 meals in the school cafeteria every day of the week; The amount of money left at the end of the month by a student who does nothing but breathe and eat is 245 TL.

A UNIVERSITY STUDENT LIVES SKIPPING MEALS

The report, which includes the results of a large study conducted in Turkey with 13,085 students, states that approximately 60 percent of university students are below the relative poverty line.

Additionally, another study noted that poverty among college students was especially felt in the areas of basic needs and education. These students; It was revealed that they had difficulty accessing nutritionally important foods such as fish, chicken and meat, and that they skipped meals at least a few days a week.

It was held with 2,140 participants between 18 and 25 years old from 16 provinces and included the participation of a professor from Hacettepe University representing the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Association. Dr. According to data from the 2023 Turkey Youth Survey prepared by Ali Çağlar, the biggest difficulty experienced by 1 in 2 young people (55.4 percent) was nutrition expenses.

Other difficulties that follow are internet and telephone expenses, with a rate of 51.4 percent; education costs with 50.4 percent. Education-related mobility and accommodation costs are also among the areas where young people struggle, with rates of 42.2 percent and 37.6 percent, respectively.