Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
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offered to schools in order to provide equal opportunities in education and students are provided
access to the resources they need.305
Institutional capacity: The MoNE aims to improve institutional capacity by investing in human
resources and physical, financial, and technological infrastructure. Under this target, the MoNE
focuses on the pupil-teacher ratio and aims to reduce this from 19-18 to 15 at basic education
level by 2019. Increasing libraries and multi-purpose lounges in schools, school subsidies and in-
service training capacity are other issues that the MoNE considers crucial to providing better
services.
The MoNE aims to invest in teacher quality as a strategy which addresses both quality education
and institutional capacity issues. The recently published strategy document emphasises four main
aims: i) to improve the status of teaching occupation, ii) to improve conditions of work
environments for teachers, iii) to get necessary precautions taking into account differences across
regions and institutions, and iv) to upgrade the career and rewarding system.306 The MoNE
identifies differences in teacher turnover as one of the main problems underlying inequalities in
quality education and regional disparities. As of 2016, the average number of years of practicing
teaching occupation in the same location is 11.4 in Turkey. This falls to 6.4 in South East Turkey
whereas it is 14.2 in Aegean region. While a teacher only stays an average of 1.8 years in Şırnak,
they stay 15.6 years in Izmir. 307 In order to reduce inequality between regions, the MoNe
introduced a new hiring strategy from 2016 onwards. The MoNE hired 20,000 “contracted
teachers” who are expected to serve for 4 years in the school that they are centrally appointed to.
At the end of each year their contract is reviewed and, provided there are no issues, it is renewed
for another year. Once they have completed the 4 years their status is upgraded to permanent
staff. After fulfilling these requirements the teachers are expected to continue their work in the
same location for at least 2 more years. Contracted teachers are also required to enter the Public
Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS). However, they can only be appointed to a position after
successfully passing the face-to-face interviews.
Disability: Policies for Children with special needs 308
Starting from the diagnosis phase, the MoNE’s approach to children with special needs is to ensure
that they are treated in accordance with their needs. Through application to the Guidance and
Research Centres (RAM) which makes the decision on whether individuals need special education
or not and the special education evaluation board established under the RAMs children are
evaluated and then referred to the appropriate education environment. In this context, it is
essential for individuals who need special education to continue their education (in all types and
stages) through inclusive education in the same class together with their peers in full-time or in
special education classes on a part-time basis. However, by taking into account the needs of these
305 This information is obtained from MoNE through formal writing.
306 Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Teacher Training (2017)
307 Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Teacher Training (2017)
308 All information summarised here is obtained from MoNE document through formal writing.