Education System

Education begins at a young age for every individual. Education is taken according to the education system of the country in which they live. Turkey's education system consists of stages. In the Republic of Turkey, 12 years of education is compulsory for every male and female citizen. This 12-year education is in the form of 4+4+4. Compulsory education starts at the age of 6 and ends at the age of 18. In addition, kindergarten, crèche and day care centers, which are not compulsory but facilitate the adaptation process of students to primary school, provide socialization and prepare them for life, serve students between the ages of 3 and 6 years. The levels of the education system are; pre-school education, primary education (primary and secondary school), secondary education (high school), higher education (university).

Pre-primary education is an optional education for 3-6 children who are not old enough to receive compulsory primary education. The aim of this education is to ensure the physical, spiritual and emotional development of children, to prepare them for primary education and to strengthen their social development. This training is provided by state institutions and private institutions. Private institutions provide this service for a certain fee.

Primary education (primary and secondary school) In Turkey, children have to start primary education when they are 69 months old. This education process lasts 8 years and is divided into 4 + 4. The first 4 years pass as primary school. Children who complete primary school education continue their education in secondary schools. This training is provided free of charge in government institutions. In private schools, education services are provided for a certain fee. Lessons usually last 40 minutes and there are breaks between 10 minutes. From the first grade, students are given a report card and the grades in this report card are determined by the exams held at the school. In the last year of their education period, which is divided into 4 + 4, students take the LGS, which is the secondary education transition exam.

Students who have completed secondary education (high school) and primary education form a preference list in line with the scores they get as a result of the exams they take at the last stage of primary education and are placed in one of the high schools in this list. High schools are divided into Science, Anatolian, Vocational, Imam Hatip. Students who want to get university education mostly prefer Science and Anatolian high schools. Vocational high schools aim to provide vocational education to students starting from high school. After graduating from the vocational high school, the student can either get a university education related to his profession or start his business life. In Turkey, in addition to the education given by the state, high school education is given in private schools. According to the preferences of the students and their families, the student can go to the school he/she is entitled to attend from public schools or he/she can be educated in private schools.

High school education is 4 years in Turkey, and students attend general courses in the first two years of 4-year education. At the end of the second year, the student chooses a field according to his field of interest, chooses one of the fields such as equal weight, numerical, verbal, language and takes the courses of this field in the remaining two years. Some high schools have preparatory classes. If students choose these high schools, they take the preparatory exam in the first year they start school. If the exam score is not sufficient, the student receives a preparatory education for one year. In this way, he completes high school in 5 years. During their high school education, students take exams every year, and the student who fails these exams has to repeat the class. There is no right to repeat a grade more than once. In high school education, the right of absenteeism is given for a certain number of days each semester. A student who is absent more than the given day is considered unsuccessful and repeats the grade. At the end of 4 years of high school education, students who want to go to university take the university exam.

The university exam is an exam consisting of the subjects shown in high school education for 4 years. The university exam is in two stages. The first stage is a general exam that all students take jointly. The exam, which consists of common courses taken in the first and second grades, is an exam that all students must take. The second exam is an exam that each student takes according to his field. Students who have chosen their field and have taken courses related to this field in the third and fourth grade take the exam consisting of courses related to their field in the second exam. However, if the student wishes to take exams related to other fields, they can do so. Students taking the exam make their choices based on their exam results.

Higher education (university), students who have completed high school gain the right to enter universities by taking the exam. Universities are divided into conservatories, vocational schools, associate degrees and undergraduate degrees. Conservatories are the units that train artists in music and performing arts. Vocational higher schools are educational institutions that aim to train qualified manpower for certain professions and are given an associate degree at the end of four semesters of education. An associate degree is a degree awarded after the completion of a two-year program of study.

Undergraduate is an educational process with 4 years of departments. The education years of the Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary and Pharmacy departments in the undergraduate program are longer. The education period of the Faculty of Medicine is 6 years, and the education period of the Dentistry, Veterinary and Pharmacy departments is 5 years. During their university education, students take courses related to their chosen department and improve themselves in that field. If they take the exams for the courses they have taken every year during the education and get a lower grade than the passing grade of the courses, they are required to take the course again. In order to successfully complete the education process, they must pass all the courses they take. Like primary and secondary education, universities are located in private universities apart from state universities. Private universities accept students according to their exam scores. They give scholarships to students based on their scores. Students with high scores are given free education by giving full scholarships.