Students' Union (''Öğrenci Sendikası''), or simply Öğren-Sen, is a

students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

that was founded on 29 November 2019 with the motto of "Let's save our future". It describes itself as a union that has the goal of confronting social and economic problems of students. These mainly concern topics such as

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

s, living

expense An expense is an item requiring an outflow of money, or any form of fortune in general, to another person or group as payment for an item, service, or other category of costs. For a tenant, rent is an expense. For students or parents, tuition is a ...

s, de-qualification in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, careerism and exam stress. It is the second students' union in Turkey, following Genç-Sen, which was closed in 2011.

History

Students' groups and communities that had spent their summer holiday for educational meetings and discussions have made a general call on 29 November 2019 for the foundation of Students' Union. After that, Turkey's second ever students' union "Öğrenci-Sen" is found.

Activity

'No Exam with Hunger' campaign

The first campaign that Student's Union held is the 'No Exam with Hunger' campaign on 2 February 2020, against price rises made to dining hall and

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

. While raises were being made to

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

dining halls,

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

canteens and transportation, the raise declared by

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

caused a reaction countrywide. The protests that took place in the university got supported by opposition figures and intellectuals. While rectorate's stepping back on 6 January was a progress for students, the suicide of university student Sibel Ünli due to poverty and lack of livelihood caused indignation in the country. Students' Union, after all of those events, started a signature campaign on 2 February 2020, via

Change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...

, against to life expenses of students. Union members that had started to open stands all over the country have asked for all dining expenses to be fixed to 1,5 TL. Students also demanded that

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

should distribute

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

in the mornings in front of the universities, withdrawing the raises made to transportation in Istanbul and fixation of such costs to an acceptable level in other cities.

COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning

After the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

starting in

the country ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, while students were getting online education from EbaTV of primary, junior high and high school level, university students were getting the type of education their schools have decides themselves. 3soru3talep

The reaction of Students' Union about that was started with the closure of student dormitories by government. By that unplanned decision, the students were forced to return their homes, and were filled in bus terminals uncontrollably due to the lack of planning. At the same time, the arrival of people coming from foreign countries to the dormitories which were being used for

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

was also among concerns. Students' Union spread the decision of rectorate to close dormitories and demanded planning to related officials. Many rectorates starting with METU withdrew their decisions to some degree. Students' Union committed several actions during the pandemic. Alongside of "stay home" calls, they have done statements about staying safe during COVID-19 and kept their protests regarding dormitory debts, free internet and helping students whose dormitory scholarship are cancelled.

Recognition

Students' Union is recognized by Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services of

Republic of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

as a registered independent

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

with its own code.

Structure

Organization of Union

* Administrative Bodies ** A- HQ Bodies (''Genel Merkez Organları'') *** a) General Board (''Genel Kurul'') *** b) General Governing Board (''Genel Yönetim Kurulu'') *** c) General Inspection Board (''Genel Denetim Kurulu'') *** d) General Discipline Board (''Genel Disiplin Kurulu'') ** B- Branch Bodies (''Şube Organları'') *** a) Branch General Board (''Şube Genel Kurulu'') *** b) Branch Governing Board (''Şube Yönetim Kurulu'') *** c) Branch Inspection Board (''Şube Denetim Kurulu'') *** d) General Discipline Board (''Genel Disiplin Kurulu'') * Advisory Bodies (''Danışma Organları'') ** a) Cabinet (''Bakanlar Kurulu'') ** b) General Representatives' Board (''Genel Temsilciler Kurulu'') ** c) Branch Representatives' Board (''Şube Temsilciler Kurulu'')

Sources and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Students' Union