Education Monitoring Report 2016-17

Education Reform Initiative (ERG) aims to contribute to the development of Turkey’s education system through annually published Education Monitoring Reports for the last 10 years by producing objective, evidence-based, comprehensive evaluations regarding education policies in Turkey. Education Monitoring Report 2016-17 evaluates “updated” education curricula, the increase in the number of private schools, educational environments, Syrian children’s education and educational outcomes among others.

Education Monitoring Report 2015 – 16

Education Reform Initiative (ERG) aims to contribute to the development of Turkey’s education system through annually published Education Monitoring Reports which produce objective, evidence-based, comprehensive evaluations regarding education policies in Turkey. Education Monitoring Report 2015-16 calls attention to the ongoing inequalities in the education system and examines topics such as the rising share of private education, government expenditure on education, the distribution of students according to school and program type indicators of quality education and the recent developments about teacher appointments. With a preface written by Dr. Canan Dağdeviren and an epilogue written by Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Murat Erdoğan, the report, was prepared using five background reports and through a comprehensive analysis of the data published by national and international institutions.

Education Monitoring Report 2014-15

Education Reform Initiative (ERG) aims to contribute to the development of Turkey’s education system through annually published Education Monitoring Reports which produce objective, evidence-based, comprehensive evaluations regarding education policies in Turkey.

Education Monitoring Report 2013

ERG team continues to produce a consistent, comprehensive, and critical evaluation of education policies and their implementation through its annual Education Monitoring Reports. In Education Monitoring Report 2013, the seventh in the series, the main developments in education are assessed, including the four main components of education (students, teachers, content of education, and learning environments) as well as governance and financing of the education system. The last section of the report focuses on educational outcomes.

The following topics will be addressed in this report: (1) The organizational restructure of Ministry of National Education (MoNE), public expenditures on education; (2) participation in education at all levels, developments in special education; (3) the competency and appointment of teachers, including field testing for teacher candidates; (4) changes in the schedule of classes and curricula, elective courses, the distribution of students according to program types, open secondary education, the decline of school types and the transformation of general high schools the newly applied test Transition from Primary to Secondary Education (TEOG); and (5) developments following the passage of “4+4+4” compulsory education law, transformed facilities, and dual education. In the final section of the report, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 is analyzed in the Turkish context.

Education Monitoring Report 2012

Education Reform Initiative (ERG) continues to present a consistent, comprehensive, and critical evaluation of the education policies and their implementation through its annual Education Monitoring Reports. Education Monitoring Report 2012 is the sixth of these, and in accordance with previous reports, it evaluates the main developments in Turkey’s education system under four main components (students, teachers and learning processes, content of education, and learning environments), as well as in terms of governance and financing. Moreover, the chapter on educational outcomes, which was first introduced in the 2010 report, has been enriched with more analytical content.

The predominant topic of this year’s report is the possible impact of the regulations regarding Law No. 6287, the legislation commonly known as “4+4+4,” on education. Among other topics addressed in the report are financing of education; attendance in pre-school education; developments in special education; an analysis of teacher supply and demand; the FATİH (Movement to Enhance Opportunities and Improve Technology) Project whose implementation gained momentum in 2012; changes in weekly course schedules; curriculum and materials; and a review of the newly introduced elective courses. The report finally presents an analysis of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) results.

Education Monitoring Report 2012 is the outcome of various information gathering and sharing processes. As well as visits, observations and assessments conducted by ERG throughout the year; the data provided by MoNE and other institutions in the Journal of Announcements (Tebliğler Dergisi) have been examined within the context of the questions raised in the report. Additionally, three background reports have been prepared by experts from outside ERG: Prof. Sinan Olkun studied the curricula and course materials for the Mathematical Applications course; Mine Yıldırım evaluated the new elective religious courses in terms of human rights standards; Assoc. Prof. Tülin Güler and researcher Mefharet Veziroğlu examined the curricula and course materials in transition to primary education. Apart from these, a background report that addresses the state of education in Van after the 2011 earthquakes was penned by the organization Gündem: Çocuk! at the end of 2012.

Education Monitoring Report 2011

Turkey still lacks a comprehensive education strategy.

The need for a medium term plan to develop and implement education policies persisted in 2011. Following his appointment as the Minister of National Education in 2011, Mr. Ömer Dinçer’s strategy meetings on teacher policies and vocational and technical education were valuable efforts that could respond to the need for a holistic strategy. However, Turkey’s education policies continue to suffer from the absence of a thorough study which designs and monitors policies and strategies among different components of education with wide participation.

Neither the high-level policy documents nor the ruling party’s election manifesto included a legislative proposal on the “4+4+4” compulsory education system. Moreover, the legislative proposal drafting process was neither participatory nor data-based. Effective shortly after its first appearance on the public agenda, the Primary Education and Education Law no. 6287 brought about changes in the school starting age and primary schools, introduced new programs and elective courses at the lower secondary level and made upper secondary education compulsory. While fundamentally altering the educational system, it also caused uncertainty. This unplanned alteration not only jeopardizes progress made in the education sector but also creates significant challenges in the areas of governance and financing for Ministry of National Education.