Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
96
welfare, and not speaking Turkish as mother tongue (with the exception of schooling for children
aged 6 to 11) are the main reasons behind various inequalities in access to education.
Poverty: Between 2003 and 2013, access to school rates increased for children living in the
poorest households. While within-wealth-group improvements are visible, the rate of attendance
in school is still lower when poverty status is higher (se .
An important positive finding is that welfare and income related educational disparities
decreased over the years at all levels of education. The gap between children living in the poorest
and richest households in completing 5 years of education narrowed down from27 to 4.9 percent,
and from 31.3 to 14.8 percent for 8 years of education (se . However, the disparities in
income and assets still play a role in access to higher levels of education.
Table 8 Education outcomes by household wealth quintile, Turkey
Household wealth quintile Attendance in
school
(6-11 year olds)
Attendance in
school
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 5
years of
education
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 8
years of
education
(16-18 year
olds)
2003 2013 2003 2013 2003 2013 2003 2013
Quint 1 (Poorest) 79.1 88.5 65.4 83.5 68.5 94.5 43.9 80.7
Quint 5 (Richest) 91.2 93.9 89.8 97 95.5 99.4 75.2 95.5
Difference 12.1 5.4 24.5 13.5 27 4.9 31.3 14.8
Note: Authors’ calculations using DHS 2003 and DHS 2013
The size of the family and the number of children at home. Household size, which can be a
potential determinant for household’s wealth status, indicates that in Turkey, while attendance in
school looks alike for households with 1-2 or 3-4 children, the picture differs in more crowded
households that have more than 5 children. Also, the number of children living in the household
becomes a strong determinant of school completion (se .
Table 9 Education outcomes by number of children in the household, Turkey
Number of children in the
household
Attendance in
school
(6-11 year
olds)
Attendance in
school
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 5
years of
education
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 8
years of
education
(16-18 year
olds)
2003 2013 2003 2013 2003 2013 2003 2013
5 or more children 75.3 84.9 64 84.3 62.8 91.7 27.9 75.7
3-4 children 88.7 91.6 82.1 92.4 85.2 97.5 43 81.5
1-2 children 92.8 94.2 88.1 94.2 93.9 98.3 71.1 93.2
Note: Authors’ calculations using DHS 2003 and DHS 2013
Education of head of household. Our DHS analysis shows that when the head of the household
has no formal education, the access to schooling rate is lower compared to households with
educated heads. However, there has been a significant improvement in access to schooling of