Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
98
awareness of the importance of girls’ education.269 The Ministry’s efforts to raise awareness on
gender equality continues with programmes like “Promoting Gender Equality in Education
Project”.270 This project which was conducted between 2014 and 2016 aimed at promoting
gender equality in schools and contributing to promoting equality and gender sensitivity
throughout the education system.
Table 10 Education outcomes by location of the household, Turkey
Location of 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
Rural 85.1 92.1 75.8 87.6 83.7 95.4 56.9 89
Urban 89.9 92.3 86.5 94.2 89.9 98.4 73.4 93.3
Difference(2013 minus 2003)
Rural 7 11.8 11.7 32.1
Urban 2.4 7.7 89.9 19.9
Difference (Urban minus Rural) 4.8 0.2 10.7 6.6 6.2 3.0 16.5 4.3
Note: Authors’ calculations using DHS 2003 and DHS 2013
Location/Area of residence: Location of residence, in terms of living in a rural or urban centre,
does not create an additional difficulty in access to schooling in Turkey. The location gap in
attendance rate in primary education closed over the years. However, secondary school age
children (12-15) living in rural areas are a little more disadvantaged than their urban
counterparts. School attendance rates for 12-15 year olds reached 94.2 percent in 2013 whereas
the same ratio was 87.6 percent for rural children in the same age bracket. School completion
rates have followed a similar trend in both locations. However, it is worth noting that the rate of
finishing 8 years of schooling for children aged 16 to 18 increased dramatically between 2003 and
2013 from 56.9 percent to 89 percent (see . The improvements in closing the gap
between children living in urban and rural areas could be associated with the bussed education
programme. Under this programme, since 1989 in pilot provinces and since 2006 in the country
as a whole, MoNE provides school bus services for children who cannot go to school either
because there are no schools in the vicinity or because there are limited means of transportation
in the area
Location/Geographic regions: Between 2003 and 2013, there seems to have been a noticeable
improvement within regions in school attendance, yet, inequalities across regions seempersistent
in Turkey. Eastern Turkey (the most disadvantaged region in terms of education indicators in
2003) looks like a success story where attendance in school for primary education increased from
269 Caner, Guven, Okten, and Sakallı (2015)
270 See the Project websit or details.