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
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