Turkey's education system – school & university

School system

In the last education reform of 1997, compulsory schooling was increased from 5 years to 8 years. This is followed by the transition to the four-year upper secondary level, in which all pupils have had to choose a second foreign language since 2004/05. In 2004 the AKP government made intensive efforts to facilitate access to higher education for vocational school graduates. The main aim of these efforts was to make it easier for graduates of the İmam Hatip schools to access non-theological subjects. Since the education reform of 1997, the Imam Hatip schools have been regarded as upper secondary vocational schools in which prayer leaders (imams) and preachers are trained. In February 2006 this plan of the AKP government was stopped by the ruling of the first administrative court. It ruled that a diploma from a religious Imam Hatip school does not entitle the holder to study at a university.

Due to a lack of funding and the high number of children of compulsory school age, there are considerable deficits in Turkey's school system. Approx. 25 % of the Turkish population are of compulsory school age. The economic gap between the East and the developed West of Turkey also affects the school system. In the East, for example, there is a large number of single-stream schools with more than 50 pupils per class. 98.7 % of all children of compulsory school age attend school. In Turkey the average length of schooling of those over 25 rose from 4.5 years in 1990 to 7.9 years in 2015.

The current expected years of schooling already amount to 14.6 years.

In 2015, 95 % of the Turkish population could read and write.

In the latest PISA studies, Turkey was in the bottom third of the participating countries.

In the 2015 PISA ranking, Turkish pupils ranked 50th out of 72 countries in mathematics, 53rd in science and 50th in reading comprehension.

The performance of Turkish pupils was thus below the OECD average in all three categories, but was comparable with other emerging countries.

Universities

Main entrance of Istanbul University; it is the oldest (founded 1453) and largest university in Turkey.

Turkey has 172 universities, including 69 state-recognised private foundation universities, four military academies and one police academy.

3.6 million students study at the country's universities, i.e. 33 % of all school leavers of a given year.[51] They are taught and supervised by 111,495, teaching staff.

The universities are controlled by the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK), to which all universities have been subordinate since 6 November 1981. In 2007, 2,294,707 students studied at state universities and 124,507 studentsat private universities. The proportion of university graduates is 12.8 percent.[55]

In addition to finances and the staffing plan, the Council of Higher Education also coordinates course content, draws up plans for opening new universities and regulates access to universities. Every year an entrance examination (Öğrenci Seçme Sınavı, ÖSS) is held by the Turkish Student Selection and Placement Centre, which is subordinate to YÖK. The ÖSS result is decisive for the choice of university and subject.

In 2012 the funding of state universities reached a new high with a share of 1.18 % of GNP.

Studying at private universities requires fees of between 4,100 and 10,000 euros per year. At state universities the fees are between 300 and 1000 euros.

After two years of study the academic degree Önlisans is awarded. This qualifies the holder to take up professional employment. After four years of study the student receives the Lisans degree, which is the standard degree. After further study and obtaining the Yüksek Lisans, a doctorate is possible.

Most of the 16,328 foreign students come mainly from the Central Asian Turkic states. Some of the students receive student loans to finance their studies from the Institution for Loans and Dormitories for Young People in Higher Education (Yurt-Kur). In 2004 there were 220,614 students; 174,374 students live in student dormitories.

In January 2008 the new Prime Minister Erdoğan presented an initiative to lift the headscarf ban at universities. On 6 February 2008 the Turkish parliament approved the necessary constitutional amendment in first reading with a two-thirds majority. This was declared null and void by the Constitutional Court on 5 June 2008. Since October 2010, according to an announcement by the Council of Higher Education of Turkey, female students may no longer be excluded from classes for violating the dress code.[42]

A German-Turkish University was founded in Istanbul and began teaching in the winter semester 2013/14.