Turkey Education System

The education system has more than 19 million students and more than 1 million teachers in primary and secondary education institutions; According to official reports and statistics, it contains many problems. The striking data reflected in the education index of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) asks "Why can't the education system in Turkey reach the desired level?"
It also brings up the question. Although new policies have been developed by the Ministry of National Education (MEB), which also comes to the fore with ministerial changes, experts warn especially about "quality".
Selçuk Pehlivanoğlu, Chairman of the Turkish Education Association, listed the aspects of the education system that cannot be improved, from inequality of opportunity to the use of resources, for Independent Turkish...


Education policies are not sustainable: We do not have a national education policy. The education system, which changes from minister to minister, from the president of the Higher Education Institution (YÖK) to the president of YÖK, is not holding up. Turkey urgently needs a national education policy. If education is the only field that keeps countries alive and moves them forward, we need to approach it with a supra-political approach. The mentality of starting over from scratch should be abandoned in education, and long-term practices that will not change with the change of management should be implemented.

Exams: Schools became buildings that gave entrance tickets to exams. Exams are the biggest problem of the education system. In Turkey, the school has ceased to be the most important institution that provides life skills as well as providing information, and has turned into a building where the documents required to enter the exams will be obtained.

Therefore, we cannot expect efficiency from any system that does not make school valuable. In this period, exams have gone beyond being a normal part of the education process; The purpose of the entire education system was confined to a ranking exam.

In other words, the concept of "education for the exam" has captured the entire system. That's why today many high school students enroll in open high school in order not to waste time in school and to prepare for exams. It should not be forgotten that the examination system has become a great financial and moral burden for families.


Inequality of opportunity/justice in education or equitable education: We should seek equality of opportunity in justice in education or equitable education. As stated in our Constitution, every child living within the borders of the Republic of Turkey should have the right to equal education.

However, in developing countries such as Turkey, it is not possible to talk about a fair education process for children whose future depends on exams. Let me explain this difference to you with a few examples. One of the variables that has the strongest relationship with students' success in the High School Transition System (LGS) is the socio-economic level of the school and the student.

In LGS, there is a 120 point difference between a student whose parents' education level is primary school and a student whose parents' education level is postgraduate education. Our most successful students in international evaluations are the children of socio-economically advantaged families.

Among 43 countries, Turkey's best-performing students in PISA are mostly children of socio-economically good families. The achievement gap between the regions with the lowest and highest achievement averages in Turkey corresponds to almost a 3-year learning process for students at the same grade level.


Nature of education:
In education, which is overwhelmed with quantity, quality is sought after. The education system in Turkey is caught in the quantity epidemic. Vaccine studies have been carried out to prevent the virus for years, but no results have been obtained yet. When we resolve the difference in meaning between quantitative and qualitative, we will begin to make progress in education. Are there any positive developments? Of course there is, significant progress has been made in terms of quantity in recent years in matters such as schooling rates and class sizes.

However, unfortunately it does not seem possible to say the same for quality.
For example; Approximately one in seven children who have completed primary school cannot understand even a simple text they read.
A student who completes 12 years of compulsory education can only have the same level of learning as having completed 9 years of education.
Although mathematics lessons are given 5 hours a week in primary and secondary schools, approximately 85 thousand students entering the 2022 LGS cannot answer even one question correctly. The number of candidates without a single score in the 2022 Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) Basic Proficiency Test (TYT) is approximately 97 thousand.

Failure to acquire basic skills: Students do not understand what they read and cannot perform four operations.


In Turkey, the rate of students who do not understand what they read despite completing basic education and who have not even acquired four computational skills is significant. So much so that approximately one in seven children who have completed primary school cannot understand a simple text they read. However, in recent years, almost all of the students in countries such as Singapore, Korea, Japan and Austria, which have attracted attention with their success in international evaluation studies, perform above the basic proficiency level.
In the simplest terms, the education systems in these countries ensure that students are laid the educational foundation for lifelong learning opportunities, regardless of the conditions they are born into. In our country, 37 percent of children do not even have basic skills in mathematics, 26 percent in reading, and 25 percent in science.


Education not serving the transition to employment: Young people are skeptical about the school's contribution to the future. Universities have become a way to postpone unemployment. There are hundreds of universities, but young adults are unemployed and employers complain about the quality of graduates.

According to the OECD report, Turkey is the OECD country with the lowest employment rates of both higher education graduates and secondary school graduates. The employment rate of those aged 25-64 who are not even secondary school graduates is 50 percent, the employment rate of secondary school graduates is 59 percent, and the employment rate of higher education graduates is 72 percent.

Increasing the level of education in Turkey does not even make the expected contribution to reducing unemployment.
In Turkey, there are no significant differences between the unemployment rates of higher education graduates and those with lower levels of education.


Among young adults between the ages of 25-34, the rate of those who are unemployed among those who do not even have a secondary education degree is 14 percent, the rate of those who are unemployed among those with a secondary education degree is 13 percent, and the rate of those who are unemployed among those with a higher education degree is 14 percent.
In Turkey, more than half (59.9 percent) of the population aged 18-24 is not in education.
When we look at the location of young people in this age group who have left the education system, it is seen that less than half (27.7 percent) are employed; It is concluded that the remaining part (32.2 percent) is either unemployed or not working and not looking for a job.


Position and reputation of the teacher in the system: The value attributed to the teacher is directly proportional to the number of questions asked in the branch. Methods of accessing information have changed over the years. Unfortunately, our education system could not keep up with this pace and the social status of teaching has changed.

Today, the teaching profession has been reduced to technical exam preparation and mechanical knowledge transfer. Unfortunately, the value attributed to teachers has become directly related to the number of questions asked from their branches.

Teachers are forced to turn to teaching methods that can convey more content in a short time, and students' ability to make sense of the information and enjoy learning is put in the background. There is a need to re-establish the status and reputation of the teaching profession.


Inability to use resources efficiently:
There is a source. Where is the output? In Turkey, the lion's share of the central budget is allocated to education every year. However, the fact that expenditures on education provide positive economic outcomes depends on the power of education to increase qualified human capacity and the effective use of resources. Even if the highest share of the budget is allocated to education, almost half a million students are still educated in classes of 50 students.

62 percent of young people between the ages of 18-24 drop out of education. 1 in 4 young people with higher education degrees cannot find a job.
1 in every 3 young people is neither in education nor employment. Education spending per student is less than half the OECD average.

Education costs borne by households are twice as high as the OECD average. Unfortunately, it is not possible to say that resources in our education system can be used efficiently with these indicators.

Teacher training processes are not compatible with the needs of the age: Pay attention to education faculties. Education faculties need programming suitable for the future. In 21st century Turkey, "What kind of teacher do we want to train?" The answer to the question is not clearly stated.

This poses a major obstacle to the creation of an effective teacher training model. For this reason, we cannot talk about teacher training programs in Turkey that were created taking into account both international education policy recommendations and national needs.

Failure to terminate dual education: In the context of equality of opportunity, eliminating the differences in infrastructure and opportunities between schools and completely ending dual education in order for every child to receive the quality education they deserve has become an obligation rather than a choice. As of 2021, the rate of primary school students studying in dual education is 37.3 percent, the rate of secondary school students is 27.6 percent and the rate of high school students is 4.2 percent.
The education system in Turkey is a scam.