EDUCATION

EDUCATION

Turkey’s education system is composed of two parts; formal education and mass education. Preschool, elementary education, secondary education, and higher education form the basis of formal education. Mass education on the other hand is separated from the formal education and includes national education centers, apprentice training centers, open universities, and county colleges.

From the age of six to the age of fourteen every Turkish citizen is obliged to attend school. The duration of compulsory education was expanded from five to eight years in 1997. The education curriculum comprises five years of primary education, three years of  junior high school (still considered primary education in the Turkish system), four years of high school (secondary education), which might last one year longer if the school has a preparation class,  and four years of university. After finishing five years in primary school, a primary school diploma is awarded and the junior high school diploma is awarded at the end of the three-year junior high school education.

Everyone in Turkey has the right to education which is free of charge for the compulsory primary education.

Formal education is the regular education of individuals in a certain age group and given in schools.

This includes Pre-Primary education, Primary education, Secondary education and Higher education institutions.

Non-formal education in Turkey is offered by a network of training centers who are supervised by the Ministry of National Education (MEB). Non-formal education services aim to teach reading-writing, help to continue education of students for finish their incomplete education, teach balanced nutrition and a healthy life style, teach people from various professions the knowledge and skills they need to improve themselves, and so on.

Education in the future:

Mr. Erdogan backed a proposal by Turkey´s National Education Council to make Ottoman Turkish mandatory in religious high schools, and available as an elective in secular high schools. Flouting earlier rulings by the European Court of Human Rights, the council also proposed that religious education be compulsory from age six. The president's response to sharp criticism of these initiatives from Turkish politicians and civil groups was characteristic: The changes would take place "Whether they like it or not", Mr. Erdogan said.

Robert Collage in Istanbul


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