The Turkish Education System was built in accordance with the Atatürk Reforms after the Turkish War of Independence. It is a state supervised system designed to produce a skillful professional class for the social and economic institutes of the nation.[1]
Turkish system mandates 8 years of primary education between the ages of 7 and 14, and in 2001 enrollment of children in this age range was nearly 100%. For 14-18 year olds three or more years of secondary education are available in public, distance-learning, and vocational high schools. About 95% of students attend public schools, but inadequacies of the public system increasingly motivates middle-class parents to seek private education.
In 2001 some 1,273 institutions of higher learning were in operation. Except for the Open Education Faculty (Turkish: Açıköğretim Fakültesi) at Anadolu University, entrance is regulated by a national examination, ÖSS, after which high school graduates are assigned to the limited university space available, according to their performance. Annually, about 1.5 million students graduate from Turkish high schools.[2]
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.[3]
[edit] High school
High school lasts 4 years, with some high schools having an additional year of preparatory classes in a foreign language. The different kinds of high schools of the Turkish education system include: Public High Schools, the standard type; Anatolian High Schools which provide more lessons in a selected foreign language (English, German or French); Anatolian Imam-Hatip High Schools which have a same curriculum as Anatolian High Schools with lessons about religion; Science High Schools focusing on science education; Vocational High Schools, which focus on a certain type of profession (such as Tourism Vocational High Schools, Industrial Vocational High Schools, and Electrical Vocational High Schools; Imam-Hatip High Schools, different type of general high school with lessons about religion; and finally, Private High Schools, which are established by private enterprises.
There are 7934 High Schools in Turkey as of 2007
The lessons taught in high schools' 9th and 10th grades are:
When students complete the 9th grade, they choose one of four tracks: Turkish language–Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences, and Languages. In Vocational High Schools no tracks are offered, while in Science High Schools only the Science tracks is offered.
At the end of high school, following the 12th grade, students take a High School Finishing Examination and they are required to pass this in order to take the ÖSS and continue their studies at a university. Exam scores are weighted to provide students in each track with different opportunities when entering higher education, as follows:
- Turkish language–Mathematics: International Relations, Law, Education, Psychology, Economy, Business Management, and the like.
- Science: Engineering, Computer Science, Medicine, and other Science related professions.
- Social Sciences: History, Geography, and Education.
- Languages: Language/Linguistics and language teaching.
[edit] Universities
Court yard of ITU Taşkışla Campus
After the national university entrance examination ÖSS (Turkish: Öğrenci Seçme Sınavı) organized by ÖSYM, if they succeed, students continue with their studies at a university.
Universities provide either two or four years of education for undergraduate studies whereas for graduate studies, a further two years are necessary, as is typical throughout the world. There are around 820 higher education institutions including universities with a total student enrollment of over 1 million. Major universities are located in Istanbul and Ankara. Tertiary education is the responsibility of the Higher Education Council, and funding is provided by the state for public institutions that make up the bulk of the tertiary education system. There are 118 universities in Turkey, which are classified as either public or foundational (private) and 373,353 students were graduated from these universities in 2006. Public universities typically charge very low fees and foundational are highly expensive with fees that can reach $15,000 per annum, and as such, a majority of students in tertiary education attend public institutions. Since 1998, universities have been given greater autonomy and were encouraged to raise funds through partnerships with industry.
The quality of education at the Turkish universities varies greatly, some providing education and facilities on par with internationally renowned schools (for the technical universities, often compared with the universities in the United States, as there are several Turkish universities regularly visited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the recognized U.S. accreditor of college and university programs, and their engineering programs deemed substantially equivalent to comparable programs at the U.S. universities), and these reflect as the popularity of a university in students' choices at the ÖSS examination.
University studies last between 2 and 4 years for the undergraduate level, and 2 or more years for the graduate level. Some universities also ask for an additional year of English preparatory study to be completed before the start of studies, unless a proficiency examination is passed.
Turkish universities actively participate in the Socrates - Erasmus program of the European Commission, aiming to increase student and academician mobility within the European Union, the European Economic Area countries, and other EU candidate states. An increasing number of Turkish university students complete a part of their studies abroad at other participating countries' universities, and Turkish universities receive students of the same status from abroad.
With the passage of law 2547, the rectors of all the public universities are appointed jointly by the faculty, Higher Education Council and the President of Turkey.[4] The current president, Abdullah Gül, has suggested that the system might be changed to eliminate the Higher Education Council and political influence.[5]
[edit] Research
The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) coordinates basic and applied research and development, acting on proposed policies by the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA). There are more than 60 research institutes and organizations. Turkey's R&D strengths include agriculture, forestry, health, biotechnology, nuclear technologies, minerals, materials, IT, and defense.
[edit] Religious courses
[edit] De-establishment
In 1927, all courses concerning religion were excluded from the curriculum of primary, secondary, and high schools on the basis that non-Muslims also live in Turkey. Between the years 1927-1949, no religious instruction was permitted in schools. The negative consequences of this educational policy began to catch the attention of statesmen and politicians by the time of World War II. For the first time, in 1949, and after nearly a quarter of a century, the Ministry of Education allowed a course on religion in 4th and 5th grades of primary school. The course was optional, depending upon a written request from parents, and it was taught outside the regular hours. The public response in favor of this initiative was overwhelming. Less than 1% of the students opted out of the course.
[edit] Re-establishment
In 1956, as a result of multi-party democracy, a new government was established. Being more sympathetic towards the religious sentiments of society, this new government introduced a religion course into secondary schools. This time, if the parents wanted to exempt their children from the course, they had to apply to the school with a written request. After nearly ten years, in 1967, the religion course was introduced to the 1st and 2nd grades of high school. Students, however, were enrolled for the course with the written request of their parents. In 1975, the course was extended to the third (last) grade of the high schools. And, finally, following the military coup in 1980, the religion course became obligatory for all secondary level schools. The status of the religion course in public schools was also constitutionally secured. The exact title of the course was, "The Culture of Religion and Knowledge of Ethics."
In 1985, the Institute for Creation Research, a United States creationist group, helped advise Turkey’s education minister Vehbi Dinçerler to introduce creationism in high schools.[6]
Currently, religious education courses begin at the 4th grade of primary school and continues throughout secondary and high schools. From the 4th to the 8th grade, classes consist of two hours per week. At the high school level, there is one hour of class per week Thus, a student who has graduated from high school receives 8 continuous years of religion courses. There are no fixed books for the course. Rather, each school decides which book to follow—provided that the book for each level is approved by the Ministry of Education. Nearly half of the content of these courses concerns religion and Islam (whom majority are Muslims) with remaining topics ranging from secularism to humanism and from ethical values to etiquette. The major world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism are included in the content of the course.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Özelli, M. Tunç (January 1974). "The Evolution of the Formal Educational System and Its Relation to Economic Growth Policies in the First Turkish Republic". International Journal of Middle East Studies (London: Cambridge University Press) 5 (1): 77–92. ISSN 0020-7438. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7438%28197401%295%3A1%3C77%3ATEOTFE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G.
- ^ Guide For Foreign Students Who Wants To Education In Turkey
- ^ 2002 Report by Turkish Statistical Institute, Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey.
- ^ Dogan, Yonca Poyraz (2008-09-08). "Prof. Soysal: Most Turkish universities are still autocratic". Today's Zaman. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=152458. Retrieved on 2008-09-07. "Before law No. 2547, rectors were appointed only by the president. Then upon the initiative of some of the universities, including Boğaziçi University, the system was changed. Now there is a middle ground: Both voting by the faculty and YÖK are involved in the process. As a result, YÖK and the president are involved in appointing rectors."
- ^ "Rektörleri cumhurbaşkanı seçmemeli". Radikal. 2008-08-27. http://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=Detay&ArticleID=895771&Date=28.08.2008&CategoryID=78. Retrieved on 2008-08-28. "Üniversiteler yeniden yapılanırken rektörlerin seçimi veya tayini ile ilgili yeni bir usul olması lazım. Bunlarda siyasi yarış gibi seçim olmaması lazım. Önemli olan bir üniversitenin rekabetinin büyümesinin gelişmesinin öne alınması lazım. Ben yeni bir sistemin getirilmesini, cumhurbaşkanının hiç bu işe karışmamasını arzu ediyorum. Bu konuda hem hükümete hem meclise çağrıda bulunmak isterim."
- ^ Songün, Sevim (Feb 27, 2009). "Turkey evolves as creationist center". Hurriyet Daily News. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11102743.asp?gid=244. Retrieved on 2009-03-17.
- ^ "Turkish government rules out demands of Islamic sect Alevis" (in English). Hurriyet. 2008-11-10. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10324957.asp. Retrieved on 2008-12-22.
[edit] External links
