Could do better

The Education Reform Initiative (ERI) of Sabancı University has just published its annual Education Monitoring report, a comprehensive document that amounts to a report card for Turkey’s education system. “Could do better” seems to be the conclusion reached by ERI experts, who found important shortcomings.

There have been improvements: Classes are now smaller, and some school books have been amended to reduce prejudice and gender discrimination. Compulsory lessons on citizenship and democracy in eighth grade are also a step in the right direction.

But what emerges from the report is that at a time when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talks loudly about keeping the birth rate high, Turkey still doesn’t devote enough resources to improving educational attainment and closing the gap that separates its students from their international peers, and it still lacks a comprehensive educational strategy.

In 2011, Turkey invested 3.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in education -- below the 5 percent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) norm and the 6 percent UNESCO recommends for developing countries. By 2014, this share will be reduced to 3.6 percent. How the country, which recently adopted the 4+4+4 legislation, intends to finance the overhaul of its education system remains unclear. According to the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) think tank, the change could cost up to TL 20 billion, which amounts to nearly half the annual national education budget.

Enrollment in education has increased, but serious issues such as absenteeism, grade repeats and students dropping out without getting a diploma still lurk behind the positive figures. About 80 percent of students make the transition to secondary education after their eight years of compulsory basic education, but many drop out in the ninth and 10th grade, often because of the poor quality of education.

Increasing basic education to 12 years, as envisaged by the new law, is a worthy goal, but improving quality to ensure students stay in school and record better educational outcomes should perhaps have been a priority, rather than spreading already limited resources even thinner. Pre-school is seen as an important tool to narrow regional disparities and improve educational attainment. In 2008, Turkey embarked on a major drive to broaden pre-school access, but progress has been slow. Only 44 percent of 48-72 month olds attend pre-school, and in the crucial 60-72 month age group, the ratio has actually declined in the past year.

Since pre-school was neither made compulsory nor free under the new legislation, many parents will struggle to find TL 50 to TL 200 it costs monthly to send young children to kindergarten. Compulsory primary school will now start earlier, at 66 months. Parents also have the option to send children aged 60 months to first grade, if they are judged sufficiently mature. But no one seems to know how their aptitude will be tested.

National security courses are no longer part of the curriculum, which is a positive development. But ERI expresses some concerns about how religion is taught. Since the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern intervention, imam-hatip schools, classified as vocational establishments, were only available to students at high school level. Enrollment has risen in recent years to reach 7 percent. The new legislation now makes it possible for children as young as 9 to switch to these schools.

The new law also introduces two religious courses -- one on the Quran, one on the life of Prophet Muhammad -- as electives. What other optional classes will be available, who will teach them and how they will affect the balance of the curriculum is still unknown. ERI warns that electives should not reduce the time devoted to social programs or the acquisition of basic knowledge. Pressure from teachers, parents or peers could also result in children signing up to avoid feeling excluded.

When preparing the law, introduced at great speed, the government announced it wanted to make the system more flexible and improve vocational training. A lot of uncertainty remains about how this will be achieved. Vocational and technical high schools still focus mainly on theoretical knowledge, allowing students too few opportunities to develop their practical skills.

Teachers are of course the key to a better education system. The Ministry of Education currently relies heavily on temporary hires who, according to the ERI report, can be paid as low as TL 7 per lesson. Teachers on short-term contracts and living on the bread line may not be best equipped to build the kind of education system Turkey needs to develop its human capital and sustain its economic development.

The education system should give priority to producing students “who can think critically, have basic competencies and are aware of their rights and able to defend them,” ERI Director Professor Üstün Ergüder pointed out.

The news that two university students who unfurled a banner demanding the right to free education during a public meeting attended by Prime Minister Erdoğan have just been sentenced to eight years and five months of imprisonment suggests that the authorities may have different views.