The reality of primary schools and basic education in turkey

Today, basic education which is 12 years in many of the developed countries in the world was extended from five to eight years in Turkey in 1997 and “Primary Education” was redefined as an “eight-year continuous education”. Total of primary schools is 35,581 in the country-wide. The number of students in per teacher is 26.4 and number of students per classroom is 36.9 according to the data for the year 2005. One may come to the conclusion, with a rough comparison in terms of just two parameters (teacher-student and classroom rates), that there is no substantial abnormality in Turkish primary schooling. Method: The aim of this study is to reveal this idea is wrong that because of the differences of primary schools substantiated. To this end, first, the data relating to the various features of primary schools (number of schools, students and teachers, etc.) have been gathered from the statistics of Ministry of National Education. Second, these numbers have been taken out of the ones in the total numbers of the above (number of schools, students and teachers, etc.). Findings: The Turkish Republic’s obligation to provide every citizen with primary education through the Ministry of National Education gave rise to the different applications in primary education as in other countries and at the different school levels due to the country’s conditions and infrastructure. The types of primary school may be categorized as open primary education, distance education, normal and teaching shift, special schools, private schools, multigrade schools, transported (mobile) schools and boarding primary schools. There are 35,581 primary schools in Turkey; however the number of normal schools is only 5,199. The number of students attending these schools is only 2,189,370. Suggestions: As the findings of this study show, the existing conditions (at least the quality of school, the number of teachers and students) are not in the same level in the schools in dual, boarding, multigrading and transported village schools. To develop professional know-how for alternative primary education applications and to attempt to make qualitative and quantitative arrangements (programme compliance) on these schools based on this knowledge as well as the other attempts (such providing all schools with the same human and device equipment) are the necessary precautions.

Education ,

Basic Education ,

Primary School ,

International Student Assessment ,

Rural Areas ,