MY WORK IS MY FUTURE

ERASMUS+ PROJECTEDUCATION SYSTEM OF TURKEY

PREPARED BY HAMZA TOKAÇSEN TEACHER

The current system of regional schools in Turkey are:

1-Nursery (from 3years to 72 months olds)2-Primary school (66,67,68 months can

enroll upon parents’ request)Primary school lasts 4 years.3-Secondary school (Lasts 4 years)4-High school (lasts 4 years)After entering an exam at the end of

secondary school, students enroll in a high school according to their score.

Types of high schools; Anatolian high school (foreign language

intensive high schools) Religious high school Art school (after passing an aptitude test) Vocational high schools5-university After compulsory education (4+4+4)

students enter the university entrance exam and placed in the result of their score.

Classification of schools by founder and age

1-State schools2-Private schools3-Foundation schools Nursery (3-6 years) Primary (6-10/7-11- depends on parents’

demand) Secondary Schools (11-15/10-14) High Schools (14-18/15-19) Universities (From 18 years)

Compulsory education Nursery school–not compulsory Primary school– lasts 4 years Secondary school-lasts 4 years High school-lasts 4 yearsExceptional casesIn case of students with severe disability or

health problems(in a need of nursing) their education is provided by peripatetic teachers at student’s house.

Educational programmeThe programme and the curricula of educational system

is regulated by Ministery of Education of Turkey

1-Pre-school education (for those between 36-72 months)

The basic aim of preschool education is to support the child’s motor, social and emotional, language and cognitive skills development.

Besides the program aims to provide children with rich learning experiences and support self-care skills and prepare them to basic education.

Who can work at NURSERIES?

Graduates of early childhood education programmes of Universities

Graduates of early childhood vocational school of higher education (2 years)

Graduates of Girls’ vocational high school

2-Primary schools (6-10/7-11 years) Lasts 4 years. Foreign language teaching, science,religion,

visual arts and music classes are taught by branch teachers.

Other classes are taught by the classroom teacher.

Students start to take exams on the 4th year. Besides state schools, students can go to

private colleges

3-Secondary school Lasts 4 years. Besides classical schools, students can go to

religious secondary schools and private colleges.

Types of High schools According to demand,success and aptitude there are

several types of high schools;-General high school-Anatolian high school-Anatolian high schools with prep classes (lasts 5 years)-Sports/arts/science/vocational/religious/health/

teacher… high schools

Education of children with special needs or learning difficulties

and school types

The fundamental policy is to educate children with disabilities in a way that allows them to interact with other children as much as possible, to support their integration in society. This applies to children with visual, hearing or physical impairment as well as children with behavioral, social or learning difficulties. If the disability allows, a child attends regular school classes.

However, depending on the level of their disability, education may take place in special classes.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for providing children with special needs with education.

Special educational needs: assessment and diagnosis

State educational support is provided to children with special education services. Application is made to the Counseling and Research Center in the district of residence; a hospital-issued disability health report is required.

Using various tests, the Counseling and Research Center evaluates the physical ability, personal development characteristics and the academic competences of the child and provides recommendations on education. It also gives the family guidance and counseling on the care and treatment of a child with special needs.

- Documents required to apply for special education:- Counseling and Research Center’s report Special Education Board’s report Written application by the parents to the school administration Personal development report of the child (for secondary vocational

education primary school diploma) Child's health report from the hospital

The children with special educational needs must be educated with their peers in the least restrictive environment

According to the decision and evaluation of Counseling service the child can be educated in;

-special schools-special classes at mainstream schools-inclusive classes of mainstream schools (individual integration) Students with mild disability are educated at mainstream

schools from nursery to secondary. In accordance with the Counseling Services report, disabled

students can get extra classes from special rehabilitation centers:

8 hours individual 4 hours group classes (the duration depends on the report)

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

There are 3 types of inclusive education1-Full time inclusive education (at mainstream schools)2-Part time inclusive education (who is enrolled in a

special education class but joins to the mainstream education classes with other students which s/he can manage)

3-Reversal inclusive education (students WITHOUT DISABILITY on their request can enroll in the classes arranged at special schools. The classroom size should be:

Preschool: up to 14 students/ including 5 disabled Primary/Secondary/High school: up to 20 students/

including 5 disabled

Children with moderate and/or severe disabilities

Those who cannot get inclusive education at mainstream schools (because of the level of disability) or on parents’/student’s request can attend to special education schools. These schools are 3 staged; the first and second stages last 4+4 years. The third stage schools are called Special Education Pre/Vocational Training Schools/Centers and last 4 years (ages between 16-23).

The students over 23 can go to Public Education/Training Centers without an age limit.

For children with autism besides inclusive classes at mainstream schools there are also Autistic Children Education Centers (ages 6-15) and Special Education Vocational Training Centers (ages 16-23)

Pre-vocational and Vocational education

Students with mild mental disability:

At primary school these students are educated at mainstream schools with the curriculum determined by the Ministery of Education. Based upon this curriculum Individual Education Plan is prepared by the teacher. On students’ request they can be exempt from foreign language teaching classes.

For secondary school they can attend to either inclusive classes of high schools or Special Education Pre-vocational/Vocational Training Centres (SEVTC).

Who can apply to/enroll in SEVTC? : On the Counseling and Research Service’s decision;

- Inclusive education students who graduated from mainstream schools’ primary department

- Other Vocational High schools’ students

Academic education and pre/vocational work skills at SEVTC for mild disables:

Turkish lesson 9th year 4x45/10th,11th,12th 2x45 min lessons a week/9th year

Vocational education and professional ethics :9th year 12x45 /10th, 11th,12th years 14X45 min lessons a week (Horticulture /Office services management/print works/food and beverage services/Ceramics and glass works/furniture and decoration/handcrafts work skills workshopps)9th year

Maths /Social sciences/ visual arts/music/physical exercises classes: 2x45 min a week/9th,10th,11th,12th year

Religion class 1x45 min a week/9th,10th,11th,12th year Counseling class (by the classroom teacher) 1x45 min a week /

9th,10th,11th,12th year Optional course (music/visual arts/physical exercises) 2x45 min a

week/ 9th,10th,11th,12th year

After working /practicing at different workshopps in the 9th grade, according to students’ abilities and request, school’s Monitoring and Evaluation board decides to which workshopp the students are going to be placed. Each year they practice at different workshopps to specialize in and find out the best field appealing to them.

From 10th to 12th grade with the Monitoring and Evaluation Board’s decision, students are placed at public or private sectors for apprenticeship. They get 1/3 of minimum wage. Those who are placed at work attend school for cultural and vocational classes once a week and for practice at workplace 4 days a week. The students are monitored by the coordinator teachers from school.In case the student cannot adapt to the work a new placement is done. If the student still has adaptation problems can return back to full time school education.

All the students attending schools with mild/moderate and severe disabilities get a report card at the end of each term. After 4 years compulsory secondary education they get a graduation certificate. This certificate cannot be used while entering university entrance exam or for higher education.

Students with moderate and severe disability and autism

Content and time dedicated to subject pre-vocational work skills at primary

-Social adaptive skills:1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th78th years 3x45 min a week

-Social studies class: 1st/2nd/3rd/4th years3x45 ,5 th/6th/7th/8th years 2x45 min a week

-Language and speech progress: 1st year 3x45 min /2nd 3rd /4th/5th/6th/7th/8th years 2x45 min a week

-Reading and writing:2nd and 3rd years 2x45, 4th /5th/6th year 3x45, 7th/8th years 4x45 min a week

-Maths: 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th/8th years 3x45 min a week -Physical Education: 1st/2nd/3rd/4th years 3x45, 5th/6th/7th/8th

years 2x45 min a week-Visual arts: 1st/2nd/3rd/4th years 3x45, 5th/6th/7th/8th years

2x45 min a week

-Music: 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th/8th years 2x45 min a week

-Nourishment education: 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th/8th years 5x60 min a week

-Religion and ethics:4th/5th/6th/7th/8th year 1x45 min a week

-Traffic and first aid:2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th years 1x45 min a week

-Counseling class:1x45 min a week 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th/8th years

-Free activity:1st year 4x45 min,2nd and 3rd years 2x45 min a week

Content and time dedicated to subject pre-vocational work skills at secondary

-Social adaptive skills:9th/10th/11th/12th years 2x45 min a week-Language and speech progress: skills:9th/10th/11th/12th years 1x45

min a week-Reading and writing: 9th year 2x45, 10th/11th/12th years 1x45 min a

week-Maths:9th year 2x45, 10th/11th/12th years 1x45 min a week-Physical education: 9th/10th/11th/12th years 1x45 min a week -Visual arts: education:9th/10th/11th/12th years 1x45 min a week -Nourishment education: education:9th/10th/11th/12th years 5x60 min

a week -Religion and ethics: 9th/10th/11th/12th years 1x45 min a week -Pre/vocational work skills:9th year 12x45 , 10th/11th/12th years

14X45 min a week-Optional course: 9th/10th/11th/12th years 2x45 min a week

Explanations about the implementations of the subjects At the beginning of the school year for each student an

Individual Education Plan is prepared. IEPs are prepared given the students’ abilities, needs and limitations.

The Nourishment education class should be applied during lunch.

Given the students’ needs and performance levels Social Adaptive Skills classes basically should help the students to gain/improve self-care and pre-vocational skills.

Pre/vocational workshopps should be opened/arranged given the environmental factors and employment possibilities besides economical, social and culturel conditions

All classes should be distributed evenly to the week

Possibilities of further education for severe disabilities

The students who finish their compulsory education with severe disabilities can attend to Public Training/Education centers. They serve as a Practical school where the students according to their abilities and needs can get further pre/vocational work skills and basic life skills.

Public Training/Education Centers (Practical Schools)

Public Training centers(Practical schools) in Turkey were mainly founded for adults which have been a part of lifelong learning. After the regulations at compulsory school attendance duration the centers started to serve to intellectually disables who are over 23.

Public Training Centers provides education and training to perform simple work activities for mentally handicapped or mentally handicapped in combination with other disabilities and who doesn’t have a further education or employment chance after graduating from pre/vocational schools

Training in practical school is done in modules. Every training module has different duration. A student can attend to the same module at most 3 times. After completing a module the student gets a certificate and can attend to any other module s/he wants. There is no time or age limit at these centers. Students have 30 hours practice a week.

Content of pre-professional education in Public Training CentersVocational and practical subjects: FAMILY EDUCATION HANDICRAFTS AND SEWING FOOD PREPARATION AND NUTRITION/COOKERY HOUSEWORK AND HOUSEHOLD MAINTENANCE HANDICRAFTS WORK WEAVINGDECORATIF WOOD ORNAMENTATIONSERVİCE STAFF TRAINING PROGRAMMEMUSIC (CHORUS )DANCE (TRADITIONAL/MODERN DANCES)SILVER/JEWELLERY DESIGNTILE-MAKING

EMPLOYMENT OF INTELLECTUALLY DISABLES

Students with mild intellectual disability who have good academic skills can study the 12th grade at open/distant high schools. After graduating from high school, they can enter university entrance exams, apply for higher education or enter the exam for disables to become government officer (on condition of having %40 disability report).

According to Article 30 of Labour Law; Private sector businesses which have 50 and over employee have to employ up to %3 of the workers from disables. The businesses violating this law are imposed a fine for each month they don’t employ a disabled.