Why is education system reform crucial for Turkey? Simply because the current system is poor, bringing Turkey only meager PISA scores.

You might think that I am obsessed with this “five ministers in a decade” deal, but I am not the obsessed one here. It was a McKinsey study titled “How the World’s Best-performing Schools Come out on Top.” The study, conducted in 2007, reviewed and compared approximately 20 of the world’s school systems, including those ranked among the top performer schools in PISA. In conclusion, they identified eight key points for reforming education systems. Stability was found to be the most important factor to take into account: the average education system reform takes six years. In countries that succeeded at economic reform, administrative actors and political actors served on average for six and seven years, respectively. Stability in leadership ensures the continuity of the reform agenda, according to the study.

From this perspective, having five different education ministers in a decade is to say, “we don’t need continuity for education system reform. The Board of Education and Discipline is working perfectly.” This is completely wrong; and indicates total oblivion.  It is an absolute waste that Turkey spent a period of political stability of more than a decade without considerably reforming the education system and improving the education quality. Do you know why? The same McKinsey study says that 12 of the 20 studied education systems were reformed right after a political or an economic crisis. Let me tell you more and you decide. Some three observations for starters:  in the case for Turkey, political stability does not necessarily mean consistency in policies. Policy framework cannot be sustained if those who are responsible keep changing all the time. Not to mention the fact that anytime a minister changes, the entire ministry cadre from the undersecretary to the branch manager changes as well. Another observation concerning the EU-funded programs carried out in Ankara: for these, you first decide a framework under which ministries share the respective work. Lately, I think that Turkey has been wasting EU grants because the new ministers do not like the framework their predecessors implemented. Period.

Second, education reform and school system restructuring is not about physics but chemistry. It cannot be done overnight; it is systematic. Here is a brief list of the steps: improving technical skills of teachers, management skills of school principles and supervision skills of inspectors; strengthening databases in order to regularly analyze policy outcomes; reviewing policy documents and institutional framework; renovating standards and curriculum; reorganizing the performance systems and wage setting standards for teachers and school principles. Turkey’s usual “we have opened this many new classrooms this year” is not one of the key items of a reform scheme. In Turkey, the performance criterion is something between the number of classrooms built and the number of classrooms painted. Access to school and access to education are two different concepts. True, physical conditions matter. It is necessary, but not sufficient. The essential element is the chemistry, the very missing link of the chain in Turkey.

Third, since the reform will be completed and yield results in more than six years, there is need for a series of transition measures. Immigration policy is the first one that comes to mind. A solid education loan program has to be introduced so that child poverty does not hinder social mobility. Turkey has to accept that the transition period cannot work without private teaching institutions and reconsider the decision to close them down. Schools in Turkey are not financed with local taxes. Yet the uncontrolled privatization of the school system has created a dependency on the financial contributions of parents. The financial contributions of parents cover a wide array of items, from heating to education materials, hiring teachers, and meals. The worst form of privatization is one that is done spontaneously by cutting budget means without any solid goal. Cutting school budgets and allowing school principles to privatize the system in their own way has ruled out the channels of quality control at schools, making the good school-bad school distinction an internal part of the education system. This does not bode well, with good schools in rich districts and bad schools in poor districts. PISA scores indicate that there are good schools as well as bad ones throughout Turkey. It is a total waste to make it difficult for successful students to work hard for admission to good schools. Do I have to say that all forms of extravagance are prohibited in Islam?

So, why is education system reform crucial for Turkey? Simply because the current system is poor, bringing Turkey only meager PISA scores. It is incapable of nurturing students’ ability of analytic thinking. Second, technological change is a basic fact of life today. And third, it demands young people with a strong capacity for analytical thought.

That Turkey has changed five education ministers in a decade is a clear sign that the 2023 goals have come out of the blue, like they were picked up lying on the ground. I guess only those who are willing to would understand.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 01.11.2013