INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN TURKEY

NEYYIR BERKTAYBoard Member, Education Reform Initiative (ERI)

Director, Center for Individual and Academic Development (BAGEM)

SABANCI UNIVERSITY

24 October 2011, ETF Regional Meeting, Ohrid

EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN TRANSFORMATION

New governance tools in use Medium-term programmes and financial plans Strategic plans Performance programmes Internal audit units

Restructuring of MoNE bureaucracy From 32 to 17 general directorates and high

offices Transfer of authority to provinces One of the DGs that stayed intact is Special

Education, Guidance and Counseling Services Professionalisation and specialisation

3-5 years 6-13 years 14-17 years

Number of children 3,738,135 10,207,658 5,087,559

% of total population 5.1 13.8 6.9

Pre-primary education

Primary education

Secondary education

Number of students, 2010-11

1,115,818 10,981,100 4,748,610

Number of teachers, 2010-11

48,330 503,328 222,705

Number of schools, 2010-11 27,606 32,797 9,281

Student per teacher, 2010-11 23 21

General 18

Vocational 18

Spending per student, 2009 (2010 prices)

1503 TLGen. 2251 TL

Voc. 2780 TL

NET ENROLMENT RATES IN PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION

% 0

% 5

% 10

% 15

% 20

% 25

% 30

% 35

% 40

% 45

2010

-201

1

0

200.000

400.000

600.000

800.000

1.000.000

1.200.000

Num

ber

of

stud

ents

Total number of students Enrolment rates for 36-72 months

Enrolment rates for 48-72 months Enrolment rates for 36-48 months

Enr

olm

ent

rate

s

1996

-199

7

NET ENROLMENT, ABSENTEEISM AND DROP-OUT RATES IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

NET ENROLMENT RATES 2010-11 %

ABSENTEEISM * RATES 2010-11 %

DROP-OUT RATES 2009-10 %

Total

Girls Boys

Total

Girls Boys

Total

Girls Boys

PRIMARY98.4

98.2

98.6

11.6

10.3

12.7 N/A

GENERAL SECONDARY

69.3

66.1

72.3

28.0

22.6

33.1

8.2 5.8 10.2

VOCATIONAL SECONDARY

35.7

26.6

42.4

* 10 days or more absence in the first semester.

COPING WITH DISPARITIES

Numbers and socioeconomic backgrounds of students could play a more significant role in resource allocation.

Improvement in enrolment rates in pre-primary education has been quite satisfactory yet it needs to be complemented with policies prioritising disadvantaged groups and regions.

Number of students per guidance and psychological counselor is 897 in average. It rises to 3347 in Ağrı and 5465 in Şırnak.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGES’ IMPACT ON ACCESS TO AND ACHIEVEMENT IN EDUCATION

According to PISA 2009 results: Turkey is one of the three OECD countries where

the role of socio-economic backround is the largest in determining student success.

Schools are highly segregated by socio-economic background which further deepens the gap between students’ achievements.

According to ERI’s Equity in Education (2009) study: Social inequalities play an important role in

access to primary and secondary education, especially for girls.

RECENT LEGISLATIVE AND/OR POLICY EFFORTS TOWARDS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Pre-primary education 100 % enrolment pilot implementation Strengthening Pre-Primary Education Project Focus on “disadvantaged” children yet lack of a

common understanding on “disadvantaged” Expansion at no cost?

Children with special needs Progressive legislation on “mainstreaming” Strengthening Special Education Project Lack of human resources and inadequate support

services

Increasing Enrolment Rates for Girls Project

RECENT LEGISLATIVE AND/OR POLICY EFFORTS TOWARDS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION Absenteeism management system

Identification of risks and prevention of drop-outs

Catch-up education programme Children of age 10-14 years old who are excluded from the

system Accelerated learning programme Ongoing mid-term review

Seasonal migrant workers’ children PM circular Provincial coordination committees Transportation to schools Mobile education

Roma children and children at risk Workshops

NEED FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE OUTLOOK

Absence of a comprehensive inclusive education approach

Disadvantages borne by children with special needs, girls and children from low income families have gained more recognition in relation to other groups of children facing various vulnerabilities

Lack of education data disaggregated according to different vulnerabilities makes it harder to identify problems and devise appropriate policies

IMPROVING INTEGRATED/INCLUSIVE EDUCATION’S EFFECTIVENESS IN TURKEY

Policy report

Situation analysis

Good practices

Pilot implementatio

n of the support model

Impact assessment study

Focus groups

and interview

s

Workshops

IMPROVING INTEGRATED/INCLUSIVE EDUCATION’S EFFECTIVENESS: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE TEACHERS?

Teachers are unequipped and unsupported, thus unwilling to have children with special needs in the classroom Lack of experience and skills in preparing individualised

education programmes Distrust for identification/diagnosis processes Limited dialogue with parents Crowded classrooms Absence of cooperative teaching

Benefit from trainings and supervision if content is practice oriented and collaborative consultation methods are adopted

Skills that need to be enhanced: Effective and preventive classroom management Individualised teaching and assessment

TO CONCLUDE…

Key role for teachers in implementing inclusive education policies yet they are unprepared to deal effectively with diversity

One of the priorities of the new government

Recently growing interest in orientation programmes for teachers

Civil society becoming active in professional development of teachers

Nevertheless, need for a comprehensive reform in pre-service training and selection of teachers as well as in in-service trainings

THANK YOU

neyyir@sabanciuniv.edu

erg.sabanciuniv.edu

www.sabanciuniv.edu/bagem/eng/