Despite huge amounts of money allocated to the
education system in recent years in Turkey, the country still lags
behind among the member countries of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report has revealed.
According to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
report for the year 2012, Turkey ranks 42nd out of 65 countries.
Although it was also noted in the report made public on Monday that Turkey is among the OECD countries that have achieved the fastest progress in the category of physical sciences and reading, the country’s average score remained below the average of OECD countries in education.
The PISA report, which is the world’s most comprehensive education report, provides data to compare the rate of success in mathematics, physics and physical sciences of various countries. The report covers 400,000 students in 65 countries. In the overall evaluation, China’s Shanghai got the first place, while Singapore was next on the list. Countries which got scores below that of the OECD average such as Turkey, Tunisia, Brazil and Mexico made some progress by performing better than in the PISA survey of 2009.
The budget Turkey allocates to education has more than tripled in the past 10 years. Next year the country’s education budget — to be transferred to the Ministry of Education from the national budget with a 15 percent increase compared to this year — amounts to $38.5 billion (TL 78.5 billion) however, Turkey still struggles with major problems in the educational system.
A frequent change of ministers is one of the major defects in the Turkish education system. In the past 11 years — the period the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been in power — the Ministry of Education has been headed by five ministers, for which the government has been widely criticized.
Beginning with Erkan Mumcu as the first education minister, the AK Party subsequently appointed Hüseyin Çelik, Nimet Çubukçu, Ömer Dinçer and Nabi Avcı to the post. The education system has been changed almost every other year by the Ministry of Education, leading to adaptation problems and ambiguities for both parents and students.
Parents, students and educators have been overwhelmed with the new changes and do not have the chance to adapt to earlier reforms, which makes them feel insecure and worried because they’re not sure if this new policy or practice will be changed yet again. Also, in the past 11 years, the admission system into high schools has been changed four times and the admission system to universities twice.
The fast-tracked education reforms in recent years have been the subject of much criticism in Turkey, and the government is under fire for not consulting all the stakeholders, including parent-teacher associations, before proceeding with implementing reforms.
In the mathematics ranking in the PISA report, China’s Shanghai has the highest score with a mean score of 613 points, while Turkey ranks 43rd with a mean score of 448. The mean score of OECD-member countries in math is 494. Other than China’s Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong-China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Macao-China, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the Netherlands constitute the top 10 countries in descending order of scores in mathematics.
In the category of reading, although Turkey has achieved an average of a five-point progress in the past three years, the country ranks 40th, below the OECD average, with a mean score of 475 points. With the progress Turkey has made in this category, Turkey is the country that has made the fastest progress after Qatar and Serbia as per the report, which noted that the number of students with low-performance in reading has decreased between 2003 and 2012.
Inefficient governmental attempts to increase mandatory education from eight years to 12 –called the 4+4+4 plan — and 213,000 unemployed teachers waiting to be appointed to state schools by the ministry are some of the other major problems in the education sector.
Teachers are awaiting significant steps from the government for better working conditions — one of the primary challenges that the education system is facing. Compared to other OECD countries, Turkish teachers have the longest working hours, the highest numbers of students per class and the lowest starting salaries.
According to a report by the Union of Democrat Educators (DES), the issues of teachers’ training, salaries and career development policies do not comply with current needs. There is also a lack of coordination among the various faculties of education, the Ministry of Education, schools and students.
The Ministry of Education has vocational opportunities for 2,000 primary school teachers every year, while universities have 12,000 students studying to teach at primary schools. But as not all graduates are able to pass an obligatory exam to be appointed and as the need for teachers increases, the ministry tries to compensate for the shortage by appointing paid teachers who earn TL 8 per lesson and are only allowed to work 30 hours a week at the most. The maximum salary they can earn is TL 960 a month, which is less than the salary of a school janitor.
Another problem regarding teachers is the increasing need for guidance and counseling teachers at schools. There is only one guidance and counseling teacher per 1,200 students and 8 million students are unable to benefit from this service. The minimum number of teachers needed in this field is 17,000, but only 2,800 students graduate each year from this department.
Eric Charbonnier, director of the PISA report, has cautioned that the closure of prep schools, which the Turkish government is planning to do, would harm equality of opportunity in education. Noting that prep schools are more successful than schools in Turkey, he said the Turkish government should better explain the purpose of the closure of prep schools and how the void that the closure will bring about will be filled in.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Charbonnier said: “Turkey has achieved some progress thanks to steps taken in education in 2009 and 2010. Steps to be taken from now on should ensure social equality. If prep schools are to be abolished, then a better system should take its place. Public schools should provide the services prep schools offer. As indicated by the PISA report, countries which lead a clear-cut education policy with stability become more successful.”
EMRE DEMİR, PARIS
Although it was also noted in the report made public on Monday that Turkey is among the OECD countries that have achieved the fastest progress in the category of physical sciences and reading, the country’s average score remained below the average of OECD countries in education.
The PISA report, which is the world’s most comprehensive education report, provides data to compare the rate of success in mathematics, physics and physical sciences of various countries. The report covers 400,000 students in 65 countries. In the overall evaluation, China’s Shanghai got the first place, while Singapore was next on the list. Countries which got scores below that of the OECD average such as Turkey, Tunisia, Brazil and Mexico made some progress by performing better than in the PISA survey of 2009.
The budget Turkey allocates to education has more than tripled in the past 10 years. Next year the country’s education budget — to be transferred to the Ministry of Education from the national budget with a 15 percent increase compared to this year — amounts to $38.5 billion (TL 78.5 billion) however, Turkey still struggles with major problems in the educational system.
A frequent change of ministers is one of the major defects in the Turkish education system. In the past 11 years — the period the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been in power — the Ministry of Education has been headed by five ministers, for which the government has been widely criticized.
Beginning with Erkan Mumcu as the first education minister, the AK Party subsequently appointed Hüseyin Çelik, Nimet Çubukçu, Ömer Dinçer and Nabi Avcı to the post. The education system has been changed almost every other year by the Ministry of Education, leading to adaptation problems and ambiguities for both parents and students.
Parents, students and educators have been overwhelmed with the new changes and do not have the chance to adapt to earlier reforms, which makes them feel insecure and worried because they’re not sure if this new policy or practice will be changed yet again. Also, in the past 11 years, the admission system into high schools has been changed four times and the admission system to universities twice.
The fast-tracked education reforms in recent years have been the subject of much criticism in Turkey, and the government is under fire for not consulting all the stakeholders, including parent-teacher associations, before proceeding with implementing reforms.
In the mathematics ranking in the PISA report, China’s Shanghai has the highest score with a mean score of 613 points, while Turkey ranks 43rd with a mean score of 448. The mean score of OECD-member countries in math is 494. Other than China’s Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong-China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Macao-China, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the Netherlands constitute the top 10 countries in descending order of scores in mathematics.
In the category of reading, although Turkey has achieved an average of a five-point progress in the past three years, the country ranks 40th, below the OECD average, with a mean score of 475 points. With the progress Turkey has made in this category, Turkey is the country that has made the fastest progress after Qatar and Serbia as per the report, which noted that the number of students with low-performance in reading has decreased between 2003 and 2012.
Inefficient governmental attempts to increase mandatory education from eight years to 12 –called the 4+4+4 plan — and 213,000 unemployed teachers waiting to be appointed to state schools by the ministry are some of the other major problems in the education sector.
Teachers are awaiting significant steps from the government for better working conditions — one of the primary challenges that the education system is facing. Compared to other OECD countries, Turkish teachers have the longest working hours, the highest numbers of students per class and the lowest starting salaries.
According to a report by the Union of Democrat Educators (DES), the issues of teachers’ training, salaries and career development policies do not comply with current needs. There is also a lack of coordination among the various faculties of education, the Ministry of Education, schools and students.
The Ministry of Education has vocational opportunities for 2,000 primary school teachers every year, while universities have 12,000 students studying to teach at primary schools. But as not all graduates are able to pass an obligatory exam to be appointed and as the need for teachers increases, the ministry tries to compensate for the shortage by appointing paid teachers who earn TL 8 per lesson and are only allowed to work 30 hours a week at the most. The maximum salary they can earn is TL 960 a month, which is less than the salary of a school janitor.
Another problem regarding teachers is the increasing need for guidance and counseling teachers at schools. There is only one guidance and counseling teacher per 1,200 students and 8 million students are unable to benefit from this service. The minimum number of teachers needed in this field is 17,000, but only 2,800 students graduate each year from this department.
Eric Charbonnier, director of the PISA report, has cautioned that the closure of prep schools, which the Turkish government is planning to do, would harm equality of opportunity in education. Noting that prep schools are more successful than schools in Turkey, he said the Turkish government should better explain the purpose of the closure of prep schools and how the void that the closure will bring about will be filled in.
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Charbonnier said: “Turkey has achieved some progress thanks to steps taken in education in 2009 and 2010. Steps to be taken from now on should ensure social equality. If prep schools are to be abolished, then a better system should take its place. Public schools should provide the services prep schools offer. As indicated by the PISA report, countries which lead a clear-cut education policy with stability become more successful.”
EMRE DEMİR, PARIS
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