By Yusuf Kanli
TDN- 'He can't be anything else, let him be a policeman' or 'He couldn't succeed at anything, so we made him a teacher' were the cliche explanations we used to hear from our elders in explaining why their children became policemen or teachers. This situation is changing nowadays, but Turkey must still take measures to make these two important professions attractive for young people who may have other alternatives

I have no intention of blaming anyone, but we must accept that as a society we have been involved in a pattern of behavior through which we indeed have been betraying ourselves and our children.
Looking back at my childhood, I remember the elders going through pains in trying to explain why their children had decided to become policemen or teachers. Unless there was a family tradition or some force majeure conditions such as the existence of seniors in the family obsessed with the "importance of education" and "security" for future generations, only those who could do nothing else would opt for those jobs.
"He can't be anything else, let him be a policeman" or "He couldn't succeed at anything, so we made him a teacher" were the cliche explanations we heard our elders use in explaining why their children became policemen or teachers.
The anarchy and chaotic atmosphere of the 1970s helped us understand the importance of having high-caliber policemen with a sound psychology rather than some outcasts of society serving in those uniforms. (I still remember the pain in the back of the beatings I went through in my student years!)
This situation is changing nowadays, but Turkey still must take measures to make these two important professions attractive for young people who have other alternatives. Through on-the-job training as well as establishing a police academy and improving the working as well as pay conditions of the police Turkey has experienced a mini-revolution in that sphere.
We, unfortunately, still have some isolated cases of torture inflicted on suspects by some policemen, but no one can make such a generalization in today's Turkey. Police still have serious problems, as do other sectors of the public service, because of budgetary limitations. When Turkey manages to convert its police force into a security force composed of highly educated and properly paid policemen with full social rights, Turkey will definitely become a much different country.
Police provide the security of society while teachers create the future of the nation. The situation of the education army of this country, unfortunately, is not yet bright, and if we maintain the decades-old ignorance there won't be much change in the near future.
According to figures released by the finance minister, a significant amount of budgetary funds will go to interest payments once again -- definitely not a mistake of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government -- crippling the means of the state to allocate funds to other key sectors, including education and health.
Still, this is a matter of priorities. Turkey may opt to buy fewer fighter planes, abrogate plans to purchase some helicopters or give up plans to purchase some German tanks and use that money to finance the pressing requirements of the education and health fields.
We have to appreciate the fact that in next year's budget, after the gigantic allocation to the Treasury (49.7 percent) -- which unfortunately will go to interest payments -- the second biggest visible item was the allocation for the Finance Ministry -- the salaries of civil servants -- and then came education with 9.7 percent. Compared to the 8.3 percent share of education in the 2004 budget, the 9.3 percent share, of course, was a very good development but still did not help the share of education in the budget reach the European average.
No politician, either today or in the past, ever delivered a speech in this country that did not include the cliche, "Education is the beginning of everything. Education is the basis of development, advancement." No objection, but what have you done? If this nation had not been donating billions every year to educational institutions and foundations, if they have not been financing construction of tens of schools every year, this country would be in an appalling situation today as regards education.
We have to understand that ignoring education means ignoring our children and their future. We have done it for many years, but let's wake up: Turkey should not have the luxury of ignoring its own future.