Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
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It aims to provide students with the freedom to invest in their own areas of interest and develop
21st century skills using technology. A main component of the FATIH project is to provide
interactive boards in every classroom and tablets for students from the 5th grade onwards. To be
able to benefit from these instalments, schools need to have the necessary infrastructure. Tablets
and interactive boards were therefore first distributed to schools that are ready to make use of
them. As of 2017, 432,288 interactive boards have been placed in classrooms. Next year, in 2018,
295,000 more interactive boards are planned to be provided to new classrooms. To date, 45,653
multipurpose printers have been given to schools. The number of tablets distributed has reached
1,437,800. Of these tablets, 1,132,361 were distributed to 9th grade students (with the exception
of vocational high school students), and 305,439 to teachers (with the exception of vocational high
school teachers).321 The Directorate General for Innovation and Education (YEGITEK) is the main
MoNE body responsible for the implementation of the FATIH project. In addition to FATIH, they
run an online social educational platform called Educational Informatics Network (EBA). While
the platform is still a work in progress, EBA allows teachers to upload content and students can
also follow the material and work together with their peers and teachers.322 EBA is integrated into
FATIH with the aim of having a more meaningful impact than the simple provision of new
technological tools.
Although it stands out as an innovative, well-intended and comprehensive educational reform
initiative, the FATIH project is still a work-in-progress and challenges remain. As similar
programmes from around the world suggest, information and awareness concerning how and
why these technologies should be used is of critical importance. Furthermore, the FATIH Project
would benefit from a more structured plan in terms of the uploaded content and use of materials.
For example, studies analysing the impact of Peruvian “ One Laptop per Child” project suggest that
defining teaching and learning outcomes and designing a friendly model to realise these outcomes
are crucial for success.323 While there are not any publicly available research reports evaluating
the impact of the FATIH project, YEGITEK’s internal studies state that 55.9 percent of all teachers
are using interactive boards. 70.7 percent of teachers are active users of the EBA platform. This
study also finds that interactive boards increase student engagement in the classroom. 54 percent
of teachers indicated that the training provided within the scope of the FATIH project contributed
to their teaching skills.324
FATIH remains a promising programme with the potential to help children access educational
content and develop a great set of contemporary skills and knowledge. However, a stronger
implementation strategy and technical support from the MoNE as well as ensuring that teachers
and parents are on board are critical to the success of the programme. Furthermore, teachers
321 Numbers provided at our interview with YEGITEK.
322 EBA (2017)
323 ERG (2014)
324 These findings are based on internal reports that have been conducted by YEGITEK (General Directorate of Innovation and
Educational Technologies). We were not provided the full report, however received the output of the Project during our field
visit.