Unemployed Turkish teacher commits suicide after failing to secure job for four years
ISTANBUL
A 25-year-old teacher in the Aegean province of Aydın’s İncirliova district has committed suicide after being unemployed for the last four years, Doğan News Agency reported on April 16.
Merve Çavdar graduated from university in 2014 with a degree in teaching social sciences and had been waiting for an appointment since then. She was reportedly in depression because she could not pass the national public personnel selection exam (KPSS), which graduates of the education faculties need to pass to be assigned to public schools across Turkey.
But only a small percent of education faculty graduates are able to pass the national KPSS exam, which is held once every year. The exam is known to have caused depression among aspirants and a number of aspiring teachers were reported to have committed suicide because of this in recent years.
Çavdar, similarly, was reported to be in depression, and was later put on medication. She was last seen by her parents on April 16 at her house. She had reportedly told them she was “going out to look for a job.”
Locals found her lifeless body on a shore near the Güzelçamlı town before notifying gendarmerie and health teams.
The teams determined the woman had overdosed on antidepressant pills.
