TURKISH EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND INITIATIVES
Turkey’s modernization process began with the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. The Gülhane Edict, issued in 1839, was a cornerstone of modern state-building, to change the goal of changing the traditional Ottoman state into one resembling modern Western states. The Ottoman administrators were faced with the task of reorganizing the empire as a modern state while maintaining centuries-old imperial traditions and conventions. The Ottoman Empire, one of the last empires on Earth, lived out its days during the emergence of Western nation-states. Ottoman sultans’ modern reforms resulted in the establishment of a modern administration. This new class of bureaucrats, educated in modern Western culture, acquired political power and monopolized Turkey’s modernizing leadership. Their victory in gaining political power was so certain that a strong bureaucratic tutelage in civilian politics was established, which lasted until the Turkish republic’s most recent decades.
The Republic of Turkey, as the successor to the Ottoman Empire, modeled its modern nation-building process after that of Western European countries. Turkey, on the other hand, was dominated by a one-party Republican People’s Party administration for the first three decades of the country (CHP). This lack of democratic government, along with persistent economic stagnation, caused the country to fall well behind European nations in terms of political and economic growth.
Turkey experienced a period of economic prosperity and democratic consolidation after switching to a multiparty system in 1950. Turkey did not stray from its democratic path despite military interventions in 1960, 1971, and 1980. Turgut zal’s presidency saw Turkey integrate into the global economy through economic and bureaucratic changes.
This economic expansion, combined with an increase in rural-to-urban migration, resulted in a significant increase in schooling rates. The extensive use of computers in schools, as well as the success of educational innovations such as the establishment of Anatolian High Schools and Science High Schools, contributed to the educational boom. One of the most serious issues in Turkey’s education system when the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in 2002 was the absence of sufficient schools and classrooms. The AK Party governments, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, were able to solve this massive infrastructural challenge in the education system.
The newly launched ventures
Today, the Ministry of National Education is establishing a new vision for the Turkish educational system, to make drastic changes and launch the goal of making drastic changes and launching new initiatives. The following are some of the primary objectives of this new vision.
Increasing educational equality: It is critical to reducing educational disparities between rural and urban areas, eastern and western cities, suburbs, and metropolitan centers across the country. Extending equality of opportunity in education is essential for achieving the long-term democratic ideal of equality of opportunity in other domains.
Improving teacher quality: Education is a complex ecosystem involving students, teachers, learning spaces, and tools. Apart from adding cutting-edge technology tools, it is critical to focus on teacher quality to improve the overall quality of education.
Strengthening vocational education: As a country that prioritizes production, Turkey requires and will continue to require intermediate personnel in the domains of industry and technology. The aforementioned demand for intermediary employees between education and the labor force will be properly met when the Ministry of National Education expands vocational education.
Preschool education dissemination: In terms of preschool education, Turkey is still lagging behind advanced European countries. One of the most pressing objectives for the Ministry of National Education is the dissemination of preschool education.
