Introduction and Context
Turkey has been a key partner for the European Union via an Association Agreement since 1964 and the establishment of a Customs Union in 1995. Turkey was granted the status of a candidate country in December 1999 and accession negotiations were opened in October 2005. Within the framework of accession negotiations, 16 chapters have been opened and one of these was provisionally closed. The General Affairs Council conclusions of June 2019 reiterated the Council’s position of June 2018 that under the current circumstances, Turkey’s accession negotiations have effectively come to a standstill, no further chapters can be considered for opening or closing. Over the reporting period, the Turkish government did not reverse the negative trend as regards the reform agenda despite the Turkish government’s repeated commitment to the objective of EU accession. The EU’s serious concerns on the continued deterioration of democracy, the rule of law, fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary have not been addressed. There was further backsliding in many areas. Relations with the EU deteriorated until December 2020, mostly due to actions taken by Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, directly challenging the rights of the Republic of Cyprus in its maritime zones. This summary will focus on the area of education.
Chapter 26 Education and Culture
The EU encourages collaboration in education and culture through funding programs and the open method of coordination, which allows Member States to coordinate their policies. Member States must also avoid discrimination and guarantee that children of migrant workers, including those from poor families, receive a high-quality education. Turkey is moderately equipped in terms of education and culture, and some progress has been made in this area, such as the smooth operation of the national qualifications system, the inclusion of culture in development policies, and the promotion and protection of the country’s cultural heritage.
In the coming year, the EU commission has recommended Turkey to (1) continue the improvement of inclusive education, focusing on including girls and disadvantaged children and reduce the proportion of school drop-outs, (2) further ensure the good functioning of the Turkish Qualifications Framework and Turkish Higher Education Quality Council, (3) take steps to implement the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
With regards to education, access to early childhood education (ECE) in Turkey varies by age group and region. While the net enrolment rate for pre-school education (age 5) further increased from 68.3 % to 71.2 % during the 2019-2020 school year (70.4 % for girls, 72 % for boys), the combined net enrolment rate for children in Turkey aged between 3 and 5 remains low at only 41.8 %. Flexible and community-based ECE models need to be implemented, guided by clear targets and strategies, which cover vulnerable children and the overall quality of ECE services requires improvement. The net enrolment rate in primary schools grew slightly from 92.1 % to 93.6 %, with 93.5 % for girls and 93.7 % for boys. In lower secondary school, the net enrolment rate grew from 93.3 % to 95.9 %, with a rate of 96.1 % for girls and 95.7 % for boys. In upper secondary education net enrolment increased from 84.2 % to 85.0 % (84.9 % for girls, 85.2 % for boys). In higher education, the net enrolment rate decreased from 44.1 % to 43.4 % (46.3 % for girls, 40.6 % for boys). Both the number and the rate of students in special education (students with special needs who are in regular classes) increased slightly in 2020, from 398 815 in 2019 to 425 774 in 2020, which represents an increase from 1.65 % to 1.74 %. However, there is a noticeably large disparity between the number of girls and boys with special needs in education (269,897 male versus 155,877 female students).
Since 2004 Turkey has participated in EU education programs. Applications for the Erasmus+ programme climbed from 12 467 in 2019 to 13 079 in 2020, demonstrating the program’s ongoing popularity among Turkish education stakeholders. In 2020, 497 new projects for 124 million euros were contracted. Furthermore, applications for the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program surged from 349 in 2019 to 896 in 2020; EU funding was allocated to 269 projects totalling EUR 6.12 million (181 volunteering initiatives and 88 solidarity projects) with over 2000 participants. Turkey implemented the recommendations of the European Commission to limit the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on both beneficiaries and future beneficiaries of Erasmus+ and the ESC.
Turkey is at an advanced stage of implementing the Bologna process, although significant quality differences persist among Turkey’s 207 higher education institutions. The reorganisation of the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC), the national authority evaluating Turkish higher education institutions, led to greater administrative and financial independence. THEQC became a member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) in April 2020. THEQC added an institutional accreditation programme to its quality assurance activities in 2020. Relevant higher education regulation and procedures need to be further adapted to THEQC regulations in order to guarantee its effectiveness. In addition, THEQC should aim to further increase the size of permanent staff in order to strengthen its operational independence.
Implementation of a national vocational qualifications system by the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA) is ongoing. VQA, the competent authority for preparing national occupational standards and national qualifications and for authorising certification bodies, is also in charge of implementing the Turkish Qualifications Framework (TQF). As of June 2021, the number of occupational standards and qualifications approved by the VQA increased satisfactorily for the functional implementation of the Turkish Qualification Framework; however, the number of vocational qualifications certificates still needs to be increased substantially. Studies regarding the full implementation of TQF continued under the coordination of the VQA. Private education certificates were integrated within the framework of VQA certificates. Although the European Qualifications Framework is referenced within the TQF, Turkey needs to ensure that principles and procedures relating to quality assurance, credit systems, inclusion of qualifications, and validation of non-formal and informal learning are fully in place. In the formal vocational education and training sector, implementing the modular curricula and credited module system, instead of the current class passing system, remains an important issue for the effective implementation of the TQF.
By Kate Ryan
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