TURKEY – ISTANBUL Eyup Gırls Anatolian Religious High School

TURKEY – ISTANBUL Eyup Gırls Anatolian Religious High School This is our school

TURKEY – ISTANBUL Eyup Gırls Anatolian Religious High School This is Ayşe Güler Principal Mehmet Erdem AKAYDIN

The Turkish Educational System

PRINCIPLES REGULATING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM The Turkish education system is organized on the basis of; - Constitution of the Turkish Republic - Laws Regulating Education and Instruction - Government Programs - Development Plans - National Education Councils

Based on these factors, education principles have been defined as follows; - Education shall be national, - Education shall be Republican, - Education shall be secular, - Education shall have a scientific foundation, - Education shall incorporate generality and equality, - Education shall be functional and modern.

Education system has democratic, modern, scientific, secular and coeducational characteristics. The purpose of the Turkish Education System is : to increase the welfare and happiness of the Turkish citizens and Turkish society, to support and facilitate economic, social and cultural development in national unity and integration, to make the Turkish nation a constructive, creative and distinguished partner in modern civilization

Article 10- "Everyone is equal before the laws without any discrimination according to language, race, color, gender, political views, philosophical beliefs, religion, sect or similar reasons. No person, family, group or class may have privileges."

Teaching of religion and ethics is performed under the control of the government. Religion and ethics are among the compulsory courses taught in the primary and secondary education institutions. Any other teaching of religion depends on a person's free will and on the legal custodian's wishes in the case of small children...."

Turkey,like other countries, views education as being extremely important and necessary if a person is going to be successful in getting a good job. In Turkey it is possible for parents to pay for their children’s education and send them to private schools, or children may attend comprehensive schools which are free.

A child below 5,5 years old may attend either kindergartens or pre-primary classes,which is not compulsory, but 5,5 and 6 years old children may attend primary schools. It is compulsory.

From the school year 2012, the reformed compulsory education starts when the child reaches 5,5 years of age and lasts 12 years: 4 years primary school 4 years middle school 4 years high school. Compulsory education is free of charge for all pupils. Lessons starts at different times because all schools in Turkey aren’t full time. For example,in my school, lessons start at 8.10 a.m. and finish at p.m. Each lesson lasts 40 minutes. Breaks are 10 minutes. We have 55 minutes lunch break. Pupils attend primary school five days a week, from Monday to Friday. The school year is divided into two semesters:( 1) from September until the end of January ;( 2) from February to the middle of June.

Books are free for students. They study Turkish, Maths, Philosopy, Geography, History, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Physical Education, and Computer. They start to learn English in the 2nd grade in this year.

In the lower years (1-4), one teacher teaches all subjects while in the years 5-12 each subject has a different teacher. As a rule, teachers are trained to teach one subject. Teacher training consists of training in subject matter (Maths,Science,etc) and professional training (teaching methods,psychology, pedagogy). Teachers may receive their training in four –year teacher training department of universities.

After middle school, all students have to take an High School Entrance Exam and according to the exam results students can go to: an Anatolian High School which provides a high standard of education to the most academic children,

a religious high school which teaches Religion subjects (Quran, Hadis, Fıkıh, Comparative History of Religion, etc…) as well as positive sciences, a vocational high school.

The high school education covers the age group 14 to 17. The main objective of general high school education is to prepare youth for admission to higher education establishments of various types. The use of school buildings and the organisation of school time are arranged according to the same rules as those established for primary schools. Teachers are free to choose teaching materials and books, but only from the list approved by the Minister of National Education.

Usually at the age of 17, children will take the University Entrance Exam.This includes Maths,Turkish, Science, History and Geography.According to the result of this exam,children apply to many universities and give a list of subjects they would like to study. The higher the student scores in the university entrance exam, the more likely he is to be accepted by the university of his choice and study the subject he wants.If a student is not successful in being accepted by a university, he may study an open university course which will give him the same qualifications. The period of time spent at university varies according to the subject studied.Most subjects, for example,economics,require only four years whereas medicine requires six. After completing the required period of study and passing all the necessary examinations, students will then graduate from that university with a degree in their chosen subject.

Thank you.