PR packages include press release writing, distribution via segmented media lists and news agencies, media monitoring and reporting processes.
Education Monitoring Report 2023 and Preschool Education report prepared by İLKE Foundation EPAM have been published. In the Education Monitoring Report 2023, many issues from children and youth to inequality in education, from access to education to higher education are evaluated. In the Preschool Education report, many issues such as the historical development of preschool education, preschool education in crisis situations, effective actors in the field, and the participation of migrant children in education are analysed. The reports were presented to the public at an event held in Istanbul on 12 June 2024.
Meryem Beyza Aydın, editor of the Education Monitoring Report 2023, stated that there has been a significant increase in basic indicators and made the following evaluations on the subject: "When we look at the general outlook of education through basic indicators, we can state that there has been an increase in indicators such as the number of students, the number of classrooms, and the number of schools, especially in recent years. There is a decrease only in the number of teachers, especially in 2022-2023, and we can say that the reason for this is related to the policies followed in recent years to reduce the number of teachers working at the primary and secondary school level. In addition, in the report, we generally evaluated issues such as international student data in higher education, employment of young people, happiness rates in children, regional inequalities in education."
Preschool Education report editor Assoc. Prof. Dr. İsa Kaya underlined that they prepared the report in the context of pandemic and earthquake conditions and said:
"We tried to prepare our report in the light of the developments in the last 20 years affecting the whole of Turkey, especially in the context of pandemics and earthquakes. 12-13 academics from about 10 universities contributed to the report. In our report, we included topics such as the main problems in the field, comparison with the world, and historical development. If we talk about the results, we see that schooling remains below the OECD average. On the other hand, it is necessary to state that community-based pre-school institutions have created diversity. We also see that improvements have been made in the education of refugee children. It should also be noted that situations such as earthquakes and pandemics show that we also need home-based education models."
The impact of the investments made in preschool education in Turkey in recent years is clearly visible. Compared to the previous year, the number of preschool students increased by 9%, the number of schools by 28% and the number of teachers by 13.7%. This increase reflects the growing importance Turkey attaches to preschool education, which is one of the cornerstones of the education system. Moreover, the increase in preschool enrolment rates in the eastern regions is remarkable. Especially in Hakkari and Şırnak, there is an increase of 75 per cent. This shows that the investments made in education in the eastern regions have been successful and that the level of education in these regions is rising rapidly.
The number of international students in higher education in Turkey tripled from 2016 to 2023, reaching 301,694. However, the international student ratio of 2.32% is well below the OECD (9.41%) and EU (14.15%) averages. This data reveals that Turkey's higher education institutions need more international promotion and student attraction strategies. Istanbul, Ankara and Eskişehir stand out as the cities with the highest concentration of international students. While these cities remain attractive for international students, smaller cities such as Karabük and Erzurum are also successful in attracting students.
The proportion of young people aged 15-19 who are neither in education nor in employment (NENI) is 16.7 per cent in Turkey. This rate is almost twice the OECD average (8.02 per cent) and makes Turkey the 4th country with the highest proportion of NENI youth among OECD countries. The proportion of NENI young people aged 15-29 is 27.9 per cent, more than double the OECD average (12.6 per cent). This situation shows that young people face serious problems in the field of education and employment and that urgent policies need to be developed in this field. It is emphasised that this increase in the proportion of young people with NENI is an important socio-economic problem for Turkey.
The happiness rates of children and young people in Turkey vary greatly according to income level. While 73.7 per cent of children in the high income group stated that they were happy, this rate was 69.3 per cent in the middle income group and 65.4 per cent in the low income group. This clearly demonstrates the effect of income level on children's happiness. It is also noteworthy that children feel less happy as they get older. While the rate of those who feel happy is 73.5 per cent in the 13-14 age group, this rate drops to 66 per cent in the 15-17 age group. This relationship between income level and happiness is considered to be an important factor to be taken into consideration in education policies.
In Turkey, the highest enrolment rate in pre-primary, primary and secondary school levels is observed in the Western Marmara Region, while the lowest enrolment rate is observed in the Central Eastern Anatolia Region. The number of students in private education institutions has been increasing steadily for the last six years, but this increase is mostly concentrated in the western cities. This increases regional inequalities in access to quality education in Turkey. In particular, the fact that the proportion of students attending private schools is much higher in western cities than in eastern cities highlights the inequality of opportunity in education. It is emphasised that regional inequalities in education are deepening.
Community-based organisations are receiving increasing attention in preschool education. Such institutions are considered to support equal opportunities by enabling the diversification of education and the development of programmes tailored to the needs of the community. However, it was emphasised that there are significant deficiencies in the structure of institutions outside the Ministry of National Education. It is stated that these institutions have difficulties in standardising curricula and regulating procedures. It is stated that improvements should be made in these areas in order for education processes to be carried out in a healthier way.
Independent kindergartens and the idea of providing pre-school education independently from other levels have increased schooling rates in the 5-year-old age group. It was emphasised that the schooling rate in the 5-year-old age group, which reached 87% in 2023, represents an extremely important achievement. However, it is stated that the schooling rates in the 3 and 4 age groups have still not reached the targeted levels. It is stated that the rate in the 3-year-old group, which was 12 per cent in 2019, will increase to 16 per cent in 2023, and there is an increase of 3 per cent in the 4-year-old group. These increases are considered to be limited due to the prioritisation of children in the 5-year-old age group.
Important projects for the pre-school education of children with special needs were realised within the scope of the "Inclusive Early Childhood Education for Children with Disabilities" project, which is implemented in cooperation with the European Union, UNICEF and MoNE. This project aims to increase access to and improve the quality of early childhood education for children from disadvantaged groups. Within the scope of the project, 8,296 teachers were trained and 5,000 pre-school education crates were distributed to disadvantaged families. In addition, 310 container kindergartens were built and 430 kindergartens were provided with educational materials, providing early childhood education services to a total of 41,552 children.
On 6 February 2023, many schools were destroyed and damaged in two major earthquakes that affected the Southeastern Anatolia region centred in Kahramanmaraş. In the earthquake, 960 teachers lost their lives and 936 schools became unusable. It is stated that psychosocial support services were provided to 1 million 419 thousand 570 children in the provinces established after the earthquake.
In addition, prefabricated kindergartens and nursery schools were established in tent cities in earthquake-affected regions. It was emphasised that children attending official pre-school education institutions in these regions were provided with free nutritional support and no contribution was charged to their families.
In 2024, among the innovations included in the updated pre-school education programme, activity planning processes were restructured. It is stated that field trips are designed to provide educators and students with more systematic and planned out-of-school learning experiences. In evaluation methods, it was emphasised that a developmental evaluation approach was adopted, focusing on the individual progress of students. It is stated that these changes aim to adapt the curriculum to the needs of the age and to promote a student-centred learning environment.
Contact: Tülay Genç | [email protected] | +31 30 799 6022
