How is Türkiye facing the crisis of 612,000 students dropping out of school? | policy

Ankara– “When my family was going through difficult times, it was not possible to think about studying…” With these words, the young man Yunus Emre Karall, from Istanbul, explains the reasons for leaving school when he was 16 years old.

Krall says that he worked in many jobs. He worked as a waiter, coffee maker, and store clerk, and practiced singing in cafes and playing in the streets. “In the end, I turned to photography.” He adds, “Economic difficulties prevented me from focusing on my studies.”

The young man confirms that he greatly misses his school days and conversations with his friends, and that in his pursuit of achieving his dreams, he returned to complete secondary school by studying remotely, and dreams of joining the music institute, so he is trying to develop himself.

He added, “Due to the current economic crisis, I was unable to continue my studies, and my family insisted that I start working. Now, the prices of the musical instruments I need are very high, and this makes me worried about my future, and I feel that these difficult circumstances constitute a major obstacle to achieving my dreams.”

Most prominent challenges

The issue of school dropout in Türkiye has become one of the most prominent challenges facing the educational system in recent years.

This phenomenon, according to experts, is due to a group of economic and social factors that push children and young people to leave the path of formal education and engage in the labor market, or to remain outside of both education and work.

While the government and educational institutions are trying to confront these challenges, the increasing numbers of people dropping out of education remain a source of great concern, and raise questions about possible solutions to secure a better future for these young people.

Tuba is a 19-year-old girl from the city of Gaziantep. She was also forced to leave school when she was 13, as her father worked as a truck driver, but when his truck broke down, their financial situation deteriorated, and she and her two sisters were forced to leave school and work to help her father.

Touba says, “I miss school very much. I have always dreamed of becoming a kindergarten teacher. Now, I read every book I find, and I will complete my secondary studies through open education, and then I will enter university. This is my goal.”

Mrs. Amina, Touba’s mother, says that because of her health problem, she was unable to work to help her husband, and all the burden fell on her daughter, and she confirms that she feels sad for her, as she does housework, takes care of her sisters, and goes to the pistachio fields to collect them for a small wage.”

Tooba’s mother added to Al Jazeera Net, “If I had not been sick, I would not have taken my daughter out of school, and I would have worked instead of her. My husband does not want to talk about those days because he does not want to remember them.”

Hundreds of thousands of dropouts

Research based on official education statistics for the 2023-2024 academic year issued by the Turkish Ministry of Education revealed that the number of out-of-school children has risen to about 612,000.

Research issued by the Turkish Education Reform Initiative, an independent non-governmental initiative, indicates that the number of out-of-school children has increased by 38.4%, meaning the exclusion of nearly 200,000 other children who were supposed to receive compulsory education.

According to the report, dropouts were more common in secondary education, at a rate of 74%, and the number of these children between the ages of 14 and 17 years increased by 168,000 compared to last year to reach 452,000.

The Turkish government has taken a series of measures and strategies to reduce the phenomenon of school dropout and enhance the retention of students in the education system.

Aisha Qamishli, assistant director of the “Martyr Ismail Can Softa” middle school in the Celiktepe district of Istanbul, confirms that the Turkish Ministry of Education is making great efforts to reduce the phenomenon of students dropping out of schools.

Qamishli told Al Jazeera Net, “The Ministry has annual plans to reduce school absence. It identifies the reasons for absence, forms committees to study these reasons and take the necessary measures, and informs school administrations of these measures officially to implement them.”

As for students who are forced to work due to their difficult economic circumstances, Qamishli notes that the school administration coordinates with local authorities to provide financial support to families, such as disbursing financial aid or providing social services.

She explained that if students continue to work instead of education, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies assigns a social services specialist to care for these students, as the state bears the expenses of their education until they graduate from high school, after which they can obtain government jobs without the need to pass exams.

Qamishli believes that the school enrollment rate in Turkey has reached 98% in basic education and 91% in secondary education, and given that Turkey is a country with a population of 85 million people, including refugees, this percentage is considered a major achievement.

Vocational training centers

The problem of school dropout is exacerbated among children from low-income families in rural areas and slums in Turkey, according to Turkish journalist Zahra Karaman, as these families face difficulty in realizing the importance of education, which pushes children to work instead of studying, so dropout rates increase.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Karman believes that the spread of social media has enhanced dreams of quick wealth among young people, as the lifestyle of celebrities on these platforms encourages them to abandon education and search for quick ways to earn money, and this trend hinders young people’s ability to determine their future goals.

In response to this crisis, Karman talks about establishing vocational training centers in all Turkish provinces, where the system allows students to receive theoretical training one day a week and practical training that lasts 4 days.

These centers provide access to vocational training in 34 fields, ensuring an employment rate of up to 88% for graduates. The curriculum has also been simplified to enable students to continue their education and engage in the labor market.

The Turkish journalist suggests that many dropout students do not want to pursue regular education and want to move to open secondary schools to complete their education. This percentage has increased significantly over the past five years, which has led to the imposition of conditions on the transition to open education.