Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
97
children from families where the household head has lower levels of education. The improvement
in school attendance rates is most obvious for children (both for the 6-11 and 12-15 age groups)
living in households where the head has no formal education. However, initially enrolling in a
school does not guarantee completing 8 years of education when the level of education of the
household head is less than secondary (see . While there has also been a significant
improvement in completion rates, disparities remain in terms of completing 8 years of education.
Figure 36 Education outcomes by household head’s level of education, Turkey
A. Attendance in School (6 – 11 year olds) B. Attendance in School (12 – 15 year olds)
C. Finishing 5 years of education (12 – 15
year olds)
D. Finishing 8 years of education (16 – 18
year olds)
Note: Authors’ calculations using DHS 2003 and DHS 2013
Gender: Turkey seems to have been able to eliminate gender disparities in access to schooling.
While the rate of female students finishing 8 years of education was significantly lower than their
male counterparts in 2003 (56.5 percent vs. 79.3 percent), the gap decreased notably in 2013
(90.2 percent vs. 94.3 percent). This can be related to two significant legislative developments. In
1997, law No. 4306 extended compulsory education to 8 years, and in 30 March 2012 with law
No. 6287 12 years of schooling was made free and compulsory. Along with this law, nationwide
campaigns like “Dad, sendme school” or “Come on girls, let’s go to school” created substantial public
0
20
40
60
80
100
No
education
Primary
education
Secondary
Education
Higher
Education
Household head's education
attendance to school for children
aged 6-11 years old (%)
2003 2013
0
20
40
60
80
100
No
education
Primary
education
Secondary
Education
Higher
Education
Household head's education
attendance to school for children aged
12-15 years old (%)
2003 2013
0
20
40
60
80
100
No
education
Primary
education
Secondary
Education
Higher
Education
Household head's education
finishing 5 years of education (% of
12-15 year olds)
2003 2013
0
20
40
60
80
100
No
education
Primary
education
Secondary
Education
Higher
Education
Household head's education
finishing 8 years of education (% of 16-
18 year olds)
2003 2013