Turkey needs to find structural solutions to structural problems and to give up empty talk.

This week, it snowed more than ever in Ankara. On Tuesday, when the heavy snow started, I was at the Turkish National Assembly (TNA). The Subcommittee for Education and Culture was listening to the opinions of civil society organizations on the Bill on Amending the Primary Education Law and Certain Other Laws. Actually, there were two new bills. Some articles in the first one, which proposed a controversial distance education or homeschooling scheme after the first four years of basic education, were later omitted as they gave way to heated debates. So, girls were saved from seclusion. A mistake was corrected. In my opinion, the parliament were forced to change the bill as the telephone lines of all of the relevant agencies, the TNA to begin, with were jammed.

So, does the revised bill offer the long-awaited education reform package? No, it still does not. The current bill implies a partial step forward, but not a comprehensive education reform. This is why I titled the presentation I delivered at the subcommittee meeting, “Why Is the New Bill Unsatisfactory?” The presentation can be accessed at TEPAV’s website. Today, let me tell you why I think the revised bill cannot be considered to offer reform in education.

First, the bill aims to increase compulsory education from eight to twelve years. Given that the average number of years of schooling in Turkey is 6.5, meaning that the average citizen drops out of school in the seventh grade, the attempt should be deemed as a step forward. If the bill passes, Turkey will be the second country to have twelve years of compulsory education, after Germany. This really is a step forward. It would make Turkey one of the few countries that have twelve-year compulsory education.

Second, the bill, which proposes a 4+4+4 formula, eliminates the requirement of uninterrupted compulsory education. There are a variety of arrangements about the issue across Europe. Besides the example of Finland, which judges compulsory education as a single school, Germany applies a scheme which allows completing compulsory education at more than one institution. In Australia, both are possible. When it comes to education, different arrangements can be made in line with the historical opportunities of the country.

Third, the bill lowers the vocational training age to the end of the first four years of primary education. The opportunity to start vocational training at the age of ten is a rare practice that is in effect in a few states in Germany, Berlin among them. The results of the OECD’s PISA test, which measures the skills of analytic thought, are enlightening in this regard. The PISA scores of the students are worse in the German states where vocational education starts at the age of ten, compared to those where vocational education starts after thirteen. Vocational training is good, but starting vocational training at an early age rusts the analytical skills of the student. This is revealed by the test results.*

What are the flaws of the bill? For starters, it neglects early childhood education. Second, it does not mention quality. It refers to the FATİH project, which is expected to improve the quality of education, but only proposes putting the provisions for the project out of the scope of the public procurement law.  It talks about quantity, but neglects quality. It offers only the visible, which could be marketed during the campaigns for the first election ahead. Third, it does not present any cost-benefit analysis. How many new teachers and classrooms are needed for twelve-year education? The answer would be, a lot.

The bill was obviously rushed, but it made it to the anniversary of the February 28 coup. It became the subject of gossiping at Baas-style party group meetings. The bill therefore fulfilled its political function.

So, here is the main conclusion in my opinion: Turkey continues the ancient tradition of empty talk and pretension. Continuing the consideration of religious imam hatip secondary and high schools as vocational schools negatively affects the education sector design as a whole. Turkey needs to find structural solutions to structural problems and to give up empty talk.

* The Economist article on the education policies of the top scorer countries on the PISA is accessible at http://www.economist.com/node/21529014

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 02.03.2012