Education in Turkey is governed by a national system which was established in accordance with Atatürk's Reforms. It is a state-supervised system designed to produce a skillful professional class for the social and economic institutes of the country.
Compulsory education lasts 12 years. Primary and secondary education is financed by the state and free of charge in public schools, between the ages of 6 and 19. Turkey has over 200 universities as of 2022. ÖSYS, after which high school graduates are assigned to university according to their performance.Guide For Foreign Students Who Wants To Education In Turkey
Turkey has 97% of primary school enrollment among all eligible children as of 2019. This number has significantly dropped with the Syrian refugee crisis. Many Syrian children left school during the crisis.
In 2002, the total expenditure on education in Turkey amounted to $13.4 billion, including the state budget allocated through the National Ministry of Education and private and international funds.2002 Report by Turkish Statistical Institute, Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey. The share of national wealth invested in educational institutions is higher in Turkey than average among OECD countries. Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey is the main national body of R&D in Turkey.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that when taking into consideration Turkey's income level, the nation is achieving 61.7% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and 86.1% for secondary education.
History
After the foundation of the Turkish Republic the organization of the Ministry of Education gradually developed and was reorganized with the Law no 2287 issued in 1933. The Ministry changed its names several times. It fell under the Ministry of Culture (1935–1941) and was named Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sports (1983–1989). Since then it has been called the Ministry of National Education. Before the Republic, education institutions were far from having a national character. Schools were organized in three separate channels which were vertical institutions independent of each other. The first and the most common in this organization were the district schools and madrasas based on the teaching of the Quran the Arabian language and memorizing, the second were the Reform schools and high schools supporting innovation and the third were the colleges and minority schools with foreign language education.
The Law of Integration of Education, no 430 was issued on 3 March 1924. With this law, the three separate channels were combined, the first one was closed, the second was developed and the third one was taken under the inspection and monitoring of the Ministry of Education. One of its aims was to apply secularism in the area of education. By the law for the Education Organization no 789 issued on 22 March 1926 the Ministry of National Education was given responsibility for defining the degrees and equalities of the public and private schools already opened or to be opened by a ministry other than the Ministry of National Education. This Law brought new arrangements such as "no school can be opened in Turkey without the permission and agreement of the Ministry of National Education" or "curricula shall be prepared by the Ministry of National Education". The vocational-technical education institutions formerly directed by local governments were put under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.
In 1923–24, there were in Turkey, slightly more than 7,000 secondary school students, almost 3,000 high school students, some 2,000 technical school students and officially 18,000 medrese students of whom 6,000 are claimed to be actual students and the rest who registered to be excluded from military service. The population of Turkey was at that moment some 13–14 million.
On 1 November 1928, Law no 1353 introducing a new Latin-based alphabet was accepted. In 1931, the Turkish Association of History, and in 1932, the Turkish Language Association were established to protect Turkish from influences of foreign languages, improve it as science suggests and prevent misuse of the Turkish language. The Republican Turkish authorities initially had twelve education districts headed by people appointed by the ministry, but later gave more power to local authorities, with education directors appointed by provincial authorities.Shaw, Stanford J. and Ezel Kural Shaw. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (Volume II). Cambridge University Press, 27 May 1977. , 9780521291668. p. 386. there were 5,100 schools in 1923, this figure increased to 58,800 in 2001 there were 361,500 students in 1923, this number increased to 16 million in 2001 in 1923 12,200 teachers were employed, this number increased to 578,800 in 2001. in 1924 there were 479 medrese (Islamic schools); on average each one of them had approximately 1 or 1.5 hoca (teacher). All medrese were closed down that year by the law of Tevhid-i Tedrisat.
In 1938 mobile courses for women were organized in order to support the further education of the rural female population. Youths who finished primary school as well women to the age of 45 were admitted to take part in these courses. A course lastet for 8 months and then the teachers travelled on to a next village. Between 1940 and 1974 almost 305,000 women took part in 13,429 courses. About 240,000 graduated from the courses with success.Göçek, Fatma Müge (30 June 2017), p.143
Until 1997, children in Turkey were obliged to take five years of education. The 1997 reforms introduced compulsory education for eight years.Ilhan Dulger (May 2004). "Turkey: Rapid Coverage for Compulsory Education—The 1997 Basic Education Program". Retrieved 4 November 2012 New legislation introduced in March 2012 prolonged compulsory education to 12 years ().
In July 2017, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government presented a new curriculum for schools, inter alia removing evolution theory and adding the concept of jihad as part of Islamic law in books.
Pre-primary education Pre-primary education includes the optional education of children between 36 and 72 months who are under the age of compulsory primary education. Pre-primary education institutions, independent nurseries, are opened as nursery classes and practical classes within formal and non-formal education institutions with suitable physical capacity. Services related to pre-primary education are given by nurseries, kindergartens, practical classes opened first and foremost by the Ministry of National Education and by day-centers, nursery schools, day care houses, child care houses and child care institutions opened by various ministries and institutions for care or education purposes based on the provisions of ten laws, two statutes and ten regulations. In the academic year 2001–2002, 256,400 children were being educated and 14,500 teachers were employed in 10,500 pre-primary education institutions.Taken from the Education Statistics by the Ministry of Education for 2002. Retrieved 3 November 2012
Primary education
Primary school () lasts 8 years. Primary education covers the education and teaching directed to children between 6–14, is compulsory for all citizens, boys or girls, and is given free of charge in public schools. Primary education institutions are schools that provide eight years of uninterrupted education, at the end of which graduates receive a primary education diploma. The first four years of primary school is sometimes referred to as "First School, 1st Level" () but both are correct.
There are four core subjects at first, second and third grades which are Turkish, mathematics, (literally meaning "life knowledge"), and foreign language. At fourth grade, is replaced by science and social studies. The foreign language taught at schools changes from school to school. The most common one is English, while some schools teach German, French or Spanish instead of English. Some private schools teach two foreign languages at the same time.
Earlier the term "middle school" () was used for the three years education to follow the then compulsory five years at "First School" (). Now the second four years of primary education are sometimes referred to as "First School, 2nd Level" () but both are correct. Primary schools may be public or private. Public schools are free but private schools' admission fees change from school to school. Foreign languages taught at private schools are usually at a higher level than at public schools since most private schools prefer hiring native speakers as teachers.
There are five core subjects at sixth and seventh grades: Turkish, mathematics, science, social studies, and foreign language. At eighth grade, social studies is replaced by "Turkish History of Revolution and Kemalism" ().
In the academic year 2001–2002, 10.3 million students were being educated and 375,500 teachers were employed in 34,900 schools.
Secondary education
Secondary education includes all of the general, vocational and technical education institutions that provide at least three years of education after primary school. The system for being accepted to a high school changes almost every year. Sometimes private schools have different exams, sometimes there are 3 exams for 3 years, sometimes there's only one exam but it is calculated differently, sometimes they only look at your school grades. Secondary education aims to give students a good level of common knowledge, and to prepare them for higher education, for a vocation, for life and for business in line with their interests, skills and abilities. In the academic year 2001–2002 2.3 million students were being educated and 134,800 teachers were employed in 6,000 education institutions.
General secondary education covers the education of children between 15 and 17 for at least three years after primary education. General secondary education includes high schools, foreign language teaching high schools, Anatolian High Schools, high schools of science, Anatolia teacher training high schools, and Anatolia fine arts high schools.
Vocational and technical secondary education involves the institutions that both raise students as manpower in business and other professional areas, prepare them for higher education and meet the objectives of general secondary education. Vocational and technical secondary education includes technical education schools for boys, technical education schools for girls, trade and tourism schools, religious education schools, multi-program high schools, special education schools, private education schools and health education schools.
Secondary education is often referred as high school education, since the schools are called lyceum (tr: lise).
In public high schools and vocational high schools, students attend six classes each day, which last for approximately 40 minutes each. In Anatolian high schools and private high schools, the daily programme is typically longer, up to eight classes each day, also including a lunch period. All 9th graders are taught the same classes nationwide, with minor differences in certain cases. These classes are: Turkish language, Turkish literature, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geometry, world history, geography, religion & ethics, physical education, a foreign language (in most cases English), a second foreign language (most commonly German but could be French, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, or Chinese).