REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION

DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF EUROPEAN

UNION AND FOREIGN RELATIONS

TURKISH EDUCATION SYSTEM

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

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1. • TURKEY

2. • Administration

3. • Ministry of National Education

4. • Structure of National Education

5. • Ongoing Activities

6. • Web-based Services

Turkey

Turkey is located at a very strategic spot where Asia, Europe

and Africa meet

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TURKEY

Population: 74.7 million (2011)

Economy: With a GNP of 772 billion USD, Turkey’s economy is among

the top 16 national economies in the world. Turkey was ranked second

after China in 2012 in terms of annual growth with a ratio of 8.5 percent.

Per capital GNP is 10,444 USD and has been increasing since 2001.

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ADMINISTRATION

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The Republic of Turkey is a secular, social state based on the

rule of law and the principle of the separation of powers.

The Turkish Grand

National Assembly is the

legislative body, the

Government is the

executive body and

independent courts

constitute the judiciary. TBMM

THE PRESIDENT

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Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN

has been serving as President

since 10 Ağustos 2014.

The president is the head of state. The president represents

the Republic of Turkey and the unity of the Turkish Nation.

The president oversees the application of the Constitution,

and the harmonious and regular operation of state organs.

THE PRIME MINISTER

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Ahmet DAVUTOĞLU has

been serving as prime

minister since 2014.

The Prime Minister is the Head of Government and the Council

of Ministers. He is responsible for the implementation of the

program of the Council of Ministers.

Minister of National Education

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The Minister of National Education is responsible for

the realization of the goals of Turkish National

Education in accordance with basic principles and in

the name of the state.

Nabi AVCI

has been serving as the

Minister of National

Education since 25

September 2013.

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION (MoNE)

The ministry is organized at the central, provincial and foreign levels. The central organization consists of the minister, undersecretaries, deputy undersecretaries, 19 service units, and the Presidency of Education and Training Council, which is a scientific advisory and decision-making body.

MoNE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

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Minister

Undersecretary

Higher Education

Board

Directorate of Guidance

Counselling and OVersight

Minister’s Advisors

Press and Public Relations

The office of the minister

Presidency of the Education and Training Council

Directorate of Internal Oversight

Vice undersecretary Vice undersecretary Vice undersecretary

Directorate General of Human

Resouces

Directorate General of

Support Services

Directorate of Construction and

Real Estate

Directorate General of Basic Education

Directorate General of Secondary

Education

Directorate General of Special Education

and Counselling Services

Directorate General of Private Educational

Institıtions

Directorate General of Teacher Training and Development

Directorate General of

European Union and Foreign

Relations

PROVINCIAL ORGANIZATION:

Provincial National Education

Directorates, District National Education

Directorates, Schools

ORGANIZATION ABROAD: Educational Attaches, Educational

Advisory bodies

Vice undersecretary Vice undersecretary

Directorate General of Innovation and

Education Technologies Directorate General of Strategy

Development Directorate of Information Operations

Legal Advisors

Directorate General of Vocational and

Technical Education

Directorate General of Religious Education

Directorate General of Life-long Education

MISSION

• To raise people with superior character and skills and to develop policies towards this end,

• To prepare education and teaching programs, to set relevant standards and teacher competencies,

• To conduct research and development on education,

• To prepare the environments of education,

• To educate and train,

• To contribute to the integration of vocational education and employment,

• To create counselling, oversight and evaluation systems.

VISION FOR 2023

At the 18th National Education Congress held in November 2010, a decision was made to improve quality in the following areas under the Vision for 2023.

1. The education, employment and vocational development of teachers

2. Education environments, institutional culture and school leadership

3. Strengthening of primary and secondary education, ensuring access to secondary education

4. Sports, arts, skills and values education

5. Psychological counselling, guidance and channelling

RESTRUCTURING

• The organization of the Ministry of National Education was restructured under Government Decree no. 652 on the Organizational Structure and Duties of the Ministry of National Education.

• The number of service units was lowered to 20 down from 36 in order to create a more functional structure.

• The main objective of the restructuring is to turn the central organization of the ministry into a high level decision-making body that is responsible for the following activities under performance-based management principles: internal oversight, strategic planning, budgeting, process management and coordination.

MoNE BUDGET

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• The 2012 annual budget of MoNE is 39,169,000,000 TL.

• This is 14.8 percent higher than the previous year.

• The ratio of MoNE budget to the estimated GDP in 2012 is 2.75 percent.

MoNE Budget (in million TL)

MoNE employed a total of 815,848 with the following breakdown.

• 746,318 people in education services

• 33,940 people in administrative services

• 3,686 people in technical services

• 375 people healthcare services

• 31,526 people support services

HUMAN RESOURCES

EDUCATION DATA

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Preschool

Primary

education

Secondary Ed.

General Vocational

Mass education

Total

Number of

schools 4,647 32,108 4,171 5,501 13,738 60,165

Number of

classrooms 48,802 344,710 69,882 52,032 91,672 607,098

Number of

teachers 22,936 515,852 122,716 113,098 105,769 880,371

Number of

students 1,169,556 10,979,301 2,666,066 2,090,220 8,524,527 25,429,670

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EDUCATION DATA

Number of Classrooms (thousands)

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THE STRUCTURE OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Preschool Primary school

Middle school General high

schools Colleges

Middle schools for preachers

Vocational high schools Universities

Vocational training centers

Mass education

Distance education

Children between 48 and 66 months are admitted into preschool. This is not part of compulsory education. There are 4,647 preschools, 1,799 of which are public and 2,848 are private.

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PRESCHOOL

39%

61%

Public preschools

Private preschools

In addition to preschools, there are 23,978 preschool classes, %97.5 of which are public.

PRIMARY SCHOOL

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• Primary schools are part of the

12-year compulsory education.

• Education period is 4 years.

• Children who have reached 5.5

year (66 months) are obliged to

start primary school.

• There are no elective courses in

primary education.

• Excluding free activities, the class

hours are as shown in the table

(right).

GRADE WEEKLY CLASS HOURS

1st grade 26

2nd grade 28

3rd grade 28

4th grade 30

MIDDLE SCHOOL

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• Middle school is part of the 12-year compulsory education.

• The duration of education is 4 years.

Students who complete primary education go on to middle schools. There are no exams that should be passed in order to start middle school. Students who wish can go to middle schools for preachers.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

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GRADE WEEKLY CLASS HOURS

5th grade 36

6th grade 36

7th grade 37

8th grade 37

The goal is to offer students elective courses in six

different areas in order to provide a more flexible

education in accordance with student wants and talents.

Areas: Religion, Morality and Values; Language and

Expression; Foreign Languages; Sciences and Math; Arts

and Sports, Social Sciences. A student will take 8 hours of

elective courses per week.

The total number of class

hours are shown in the table

(right).

HIGH SCHOOL

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High school education is 4 years

and is part of the 12-year

compulsory education. There are

general high schools and

vocational high schools.

Students take a Level Determination Exam (SBS) when going on

to high school from middle school. Students who cannot get into

high schools that admit students according to SBS scores or the

results of special talent exams go to general high schools, high

schools for preachers and vocational and technical high schools.

HIGH SCHOOL

Vocational and technical education starts at the high

school level. The curriculum in the 9th grade is same in

general high schoos and vocational schools. Therefore, in

practice, vocational education starts at 10th grade.

Vocational courses begin in the 10th grade.

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ADMISSION INTO HIGHER EDUCATION

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Admission into higher education is

possible through taking centralized

exams given by the Student

Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM)

• There is a two-staged exam. The Higher Education Exam (YGS) and

Undergraduate Placement Exam (LYS) are conducted once a year.

Candidates who get scores between 140 and 179 in YGS are entitled

to enroll in two-year vocational college programs and open education

programs. Students who receive scores above 180 can select

programs offering bachelor degrees.

• These exams include courses basic and common courses offered in high schools as well as area courses.

COLLEGES

• These are institutions that are geared towards training applied vocational personnel, and they offer associate degrees. The duration of education is usually two years.

• Students who complete the associate degree in colleges have the right to take an exam in order to vertically transfer to bachelor programs.

UNIVERSITY

In some of Turkey’s leading universities, the language of education is English.

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There are 188 universities in Turkey. 103 of them are public, 65 belong to foundations and 7 are foundation vocational colleges.

According to 2010-2011 academic year figures, the number of foreign students enrolled in Turkish universities is 26,000.

SCHOOLING RATES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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The net schooling rate in higher education in the 2011-2012 academic year was 33.06 percent. The following table shows the increases since 1999.

Net Schooling Rate in Higher Education (%)

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION CENTERS

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People who have a minimum of middle school diploma between the ages of 14 and 19 can receive apprenticeship training in Vocational Education Centers. The social security premiums of apprentice candidates are paid by the state.

• Those who complete apprenticeship training can go on to workmanship training if they are successful in the workmanship exam.

• Those who complete the workmanship training are entitled to take the exam to become a master (a journeyman). A master’s (journeyman’s) certificate is required to open a workplace in that field.

MASS EDUCATION

Individuals who are still in or who have left formal education, regardless of age and level of education, can take mass education courses. These courses may have different durations and levels and they are geared towards providing students with knowledge, skills and behaviors that would help their economic, social and cultural development in accordance with their demands, interests and talents. These courses are part of life-long education.

In Public Education Centers, two types of courses are offered; vocational-technical

and social-cultural. There is no limit to the kinds of courses that can be offered. Courses can be organized in any field for

which there is a demand.

DISTANCE EDUCATION

This is a education process in which the student and the teacher are not physically in the same

environment. Distance education institutions in Turkey are:

– Open Education Middle School

– Open Education High School

– Vocational Open High School

– Open Education Faculty of the Anadolu University

People who are 14 or above can enroll in Open Middle School. But, for people who need special education, convicts and people under arrest, children in correctional facilities, and those who stayed for more than one year abroad due to their civil servant parent’s duty are exempted from this rule.

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Number of school books distributed free of charge to all students in primary and secondary education:

2003-2004 (81 million)

2004-2005 (83 million)

2005-2006 (106 million)

2006-2007 (141 million)

2007-2008 (156 million)

2008-2009 (167 million)

2009-2010 (187 million)

2010-2011 (196 million)

2011-2012 (204 million)

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

• 97 percent of schools in Tureky have internet connection.

• 844,000 computers have been allocated to schools as part of the setting up of Information Technology Classrooms in primary and secondary education.

• Technological access in schools is increasing as part of the ongoing Fatih Project.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

As part of the project, work is underway for

• connecting all classrooms to the internet,

• providing all classrooms with Smart Boards,

• providing e-content for students,

• distributing tablet PCs to all students.

FATİH Project

is a movement for improving technology in schools and increasing education opportunities for students and teachers through furnishing classrooms with IT equipment.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

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The goals of the National Teacher Education Strategy are:

1) Ensuring that the most competent teacher gets to each classroom

• Selecting successful individuals for admission into teacher

education programs

• Improving pre-service teacher education

• Selecting the most highly qualified candidates from the pool of

teacher candidates

2) Improving teachers’ professional and institutional loyalty and

making it sustainable

• Ensuring continuity in teachers’ personal and professional

development starting from the period of candidacy

• Improving the career development and rewards system

3) Strengthening the Perception and Status of the Teaching

Profession

• Developing institutional image and communication strategies

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

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In Educational Campuses, planned to be built through public-

private joint ventures, different types and levels of schools and

institutions, and their dormitories, cafeterias, labs, libraries,

sports facilities, guidance counselling and health units,

conference halls, multi-purpose rooms and R&D centers will be

located.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

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Since 1 October 2012, MoNE is conducting its written

communications through the Document Management System.

Thus, MoNE has entered the e-state portal.

Document Management System

(DYS) is the management of

documents in electronic media.

This system targets:

● preventing waste stemming from

bureaucratic transactions,

● reducing stationery expenses,

● better archiving of documents,

● increasing document safety.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

WEB-BASED SERVICES

Management Information Systems

Parent Notification System

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E-School Parent Notification System is geared

towards parents who have children registered

in public or private schools. The system gives

access to information about announcements,

class schedule, absences, grades, exams and

projects.

A school management information system

software that has been in use since January

2007. It includes the whole process from a

student’s first registration to his/her graduation.

Information Acquisition System

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WEB HİZMETLERİ

Distance Education Platform A model of distance education through which

users can get visual and audio computer

training online.

A system that allows asking questions and making suggestions and complaints. Users can monitor it in accordance with the Information Acquisition Law.

Education Information Network was designed for all educational stakeholders, starting with teachers and students. It has been created to provide e-content suitable for different grades and which is reliable and has gone through inspection.

Education Information Network

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WEB HİZMETLERİ

It is a service targeting public employees and

citizens with separate modules on public

education, personnel transactions, open

education institutions, e-school, e-dormitory, e-academia, e-movables.

Information Systems

ALO 147 COMMUNICATION CENTER

Possible to reach MoNE 7/24 by dialing 147. The goal of the service is to effectively and swiftly handle

questions and queries about: demands,

complaints, opinions and suggestions,

warnings and notifications, and questions of information.

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MoNE Directorate General of European Union and Foreign Relations

(312) 212 38 70 digmab@meb.gov.tr