Education in Turkey

Every child aged from seven to 15 years receives eight years of compulsory ilkokul (primary school) and ortaokul (middle school) education. Secondary (lise, high school), and vocational or technical education, is also available free to those who want to continue. Specialized schools are available for people with special needs, orphans and the very poor.

However, while the standard of teaching in the big towns is adequate, that is not the case in smaller and poorer areas. There are a growing number of private schools (kolej, colleges) in the towns cashing in on parents’ fears that their children aren’t getting the education that they deserve. Turkey has more that 80 universities, some of them government-funded, others private run. Students are admitted through a central placement system that means that every year you’ll see anxious huddles of applicants studying the lists of the successful in the newspapers. Literacy rates are good and improving. Whereas perhaps only 80% of men and 50% of women over 50 can read, literacy rates for those between 15 and 20 are much higher. You’ll find fewer people who can read in rural areas, especially in the east.