Last Updated on 12/04/2023
Turkey has lately become an important education destination globally. It attracts international students from all over the world. Turkey’s solid and beneficial educational system allowed the country to reach a high literacy rate of 95.69% in 2015.
The Turkish constitution ensures the right to free education for every citizen. Besides, 12 years of education are mandatory for both boys and girls and divided into 4+4+4.
Education in Turkey for International Students
The educational system in Turkey is under the direction of the national education ministry. Moreover, when an international student joins a state school in Turkey, the Provincial Directorate of National Education evaluates the student’s educational background. It inspects its previous schooling path.
So let’s take a deeper look at the educational system in Turkey and its advantages.
1. Structure of the educational system
The schooling structure in Turkey is divided into 4 main categories:
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Pre-schooling:
It is an optional education up to the age of 6. Besides, the state kindergartens accept children of 4 years old at least. However, there is an extensive range of private kindergartens in Turkey with good education quality. Private kindergarten includes different activities and even foreign languages classes. -
Primary Education:
It is a fundamental 8-year education starting from 6 until 14. It includes 5 years of elementary schooling and 3 years of middle education. This education is obligatory and free in state schools for all citizens of both genders. -
Secondary Education:
This category includes 4 years of high school or vocational high school in general. Certain institutions require an extra year of language study. -
High Education:
This category includes 4 years of university or 2 years of high Vocational institutions. An eventual additional year of language study can be required in some schools. It can also have other 2 years of Master’s studies and 3 to 5 years of Ph.D.
2. The strategy of education system in Turkey
Turkey has one of the most effective educational systems among the OECD countries. It has a robust strategy that focuses mainly on the school’s results. This strategy is based on 3 main priorities. Each priority is evaluated by quantitative and qualitative indexes to assess the performance of set targets.
These priorities are the following:
Priority1: School Acess and capacity
It works to increase the admission rate and decrease the rate of early school quit. It also enhances the transition equity between different education stages among all the students despite their different social levels.
Priority2: Education and training quality
This priority focuses on enhancing the students’ results. It also provides decent schooling conditions to reduce class repetition, especially in early grades.
Priority 3: Institutional Capacity
It aims to increase educational institutions’ human, physical, and financial resources. It also tends to enhance the institutional capacity and reduce the number of students per teacher.
3. Religion’s position in Turkish educational system
Being a 90% Muslim country, the Turkish government greatly emphasizes religious values. It re-established the religion courses into secondary education in 1967. Then religion courses got extended until the 4th grade of primary school. Today religion courses last until the 8th grade of secondary education. Currently, these courses consist of 2 hours per week in primary schools and one hour in high schools. The course is officially called “Religion’s culture and Ethics knowledge.” It focuses on establishing Islam’s values and basics. Although there are no official books for this course, its content must be approved by the national ministry of education.
Turkish government admits that some students are not Muslims. That’s why they have the right to get exempted from this class through a written request.
If you would like to know further details about the educational system in Turkey, MEO Consultants offer complete assistance. To know more about our services, please click here Services.
