If having personal qualifications actually has returns, education becomes important.

The other day a South Korean friend of mine said, “If you ask me what the most important factor that enabled Korea to become a high-income from an upper-middle-income country was, my answer definitely would be education.” “The education of their children is not just important for Korean parents: they are obsessed with education,” he added.

His words have been in my mind for the last couple of days. Are parents in Turkey obsessed with the education of their children? The photo below shows Korean parents waiting while their children are taking an examination. We have similar scenes here in Turkey. But I suspect that parents here are as intense and worried as their Korean counterparts. Think about it. There is no doubt that all parents want the best for their children. But which would you prefer as a parent living in Turkey: to leave your child a house or land or to bear the cost of a good education? You cannot get everything in life. There are budgetary constraints. So be honest. Which one would choose?

The answer of the Korean parents is evident: they are beating up themselves to make sure that their children are well-educated. And the outcome also is evident. In 1995, 40 percent of young Koreans went to university. The rate in Turkey was less than 20 percent. As of 2011, Korea exceeded 70 percent in university enrollment while the rate in Turkey was 40 percent. Korean youth have easier access to higher education compared to their Turkish peers. Or in other words, Korea has better opportunities, not easier examinations. This is the first point.

Here is the second one: Higher education is financed by parents in Korea, and by the state in Turkey. Of the overall cost of higher education, 75 is financed by private sources in the former, whereas 95 percent is undertaken by the state in the latter. Even in statist France, the share of the state in higher education expenditures is lower, at 80 percent. This is what I understand from the statement “The education of their children is the biggest obsession of Korean parents.” Education is financed via family funds and parents do their utmost to provide the best opportunities for their children’s educations. They believe education makes a difference. That becomes the main purpose of their lives.

With this remarkable share of private spending for education, the Korean education system ranks second after Finland’s among 40 countries. Turkey hardly makes it to the below-meager group, ranking 34^th. Turkey’s education system fails to achieve a stable equilibrium having changed five education ministers throughout the single-party power of ten years. This is the third point.

So, what is the problem in Turkey? We have to consider it given that Turkish parents are not that different from Korean parents. We all want our children to have better lives than we did, of course. What appears to me is that there is a problem with the system. True, education matters for us, but not as much as it does for Koreans. Why? Did you confidently answer the above question of mine with “education”? I don't think so. It is a gigantic investment to purchase a house in Seoul, Korea’s capital. Compared to that, it may be much easier to invest in children’s education. In Turkey, 60 percent of the households live in their own houses compared to 50 percent in Korea. Second, Korea levies high taxes on property value gains. When urban profits are taxed, leaving your children a home or some land does not secure a prosperous life for your family and children. Having personal qualifications actually has returns, due to which education becomes important.

Do you wonder why Korea’s GDP per capita as a ratio of that in the US reached 60 percent while Turkey still struggles at around 20 percent, the very level both Korea and Turkey were in the 1970s? That’s why!

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 20.09.2013