Problems experienced by the teachers working at private schools

A teacher is one of the most important actors of an educational system. In order for educational activities to work accordingly, there is primarily a need for teachers who serve efficiently. Working conditions of teachers must be adequate in order for them to serve efficiently. The number of private schools in Turkey being on the rise has been encouraged through public policies and as a consequence of these policies, the number of private schools as well as the number of private school teachers has increased. Teachers working at private schools experience serious problems due to such reasons as labor-job protection, status, income, and work environment. The purpose of this study is to determine and analyze the problems that private school teachers have depending on the opinions of teachers working at these private schools. This is a qualitative study designed in the case study pattern. The data of this study was collected using semi-structured interview technique and content analysis. The study group of this research consists of 15 teachers working at preschool, primary school, secondary school, and high school departments of private schools, selected by using purposeful sampling method. In the scope of this research, it has been inferred from the findings of this study that teachers prefer working at private schools due to a variety of material and moral reasons and they have several disadvantages compared to public school teachers in terms of income and economic rights, labor-job protection, working environment and conditions, school management and relationship with parents. According to the findings of this research, in order to find solutions to these problems that private school teachers experience, it has been suggested that the government must play a regulatory and supervisory role: make legal regulations to fix and improve private school teachers' status and income as well as their working conditions and labor-job protection.