Equity in education: The case of Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School

One of the basic human rights is the right to education. The right to education is frequently mentioned in national and international legal texts. However, there are deficiencies in what the concept of the right to education covers, what its content is, and how it should be understood in the upper legal texts. The biggest reason for these shortcomings is that the field of education law is not given enough importance and the studies in the field of education law are very few. Based on the obligations of the state within the framework of the General Comment No. 13 published by the committee on the 13th article of the United Nations Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regulating the right to education, it is determined whether justice is fully implemented in education in line with the life stories of the Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School students in Konya. It is the aim of the research to reveal A total of five Vocational and Technical Anatolian High Schools providing education in Konya constitute the universe of the research. 19 participants determined by using the maximum variation sampling method are included in the study. The data obtained as a result of face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview form were analyzed using content analysis technique. The data analyzed based on the answers given by the students to the semi-structured interview form questions, were evaluated on four themes: availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability. According to the research findings, it has been concluded that the Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School students have difficulties in reaching the right to education, they cannot catch the opportunity of equal quality education, they come from a disadvantaged position in socioeconomic and sociocultural terms, and this disadvantaged position becomes more evident in the high school they attend. In order for the Vocational and Technical Anatolian High Schools, which are of great importance in the development and industrialization of countries, to serve their founding purpose, it is necessary for children to fully and equally benefit from the right to education and to ensure justice in education by taking holistic and inclusive measures.