The problems experienced in the national education system were revealed once again with the report titled "Education at a Glance 2023: Evaluation and Recommendations on Turkey" by TEDMEM, the think tank of the Turkish Education Association.
The report in question; It provides important information on topics such as schooling, employment and education costs.
In the report sharing data on the schooling rate according to age groups in Turkey, it was stated that it was 100 percent in primary and secondary school levels, that is, for children between the ages of 6 and 14.
"In these years, which coincide with the primary and secondary school periods, full schooling was achieved in Turkey. However, the schooling rate for the 15-19 age group, which includes the secondary education period, is 70.5 percent for Turkey and is ranked 5th from the bottom, well behind the average of OECD countries, which is 83.9 percent," it was said for ages 15-19.
ONE IN TWO ADULTS IS NOT A SECONDARY EDUCATION GRADUATE
On average in OECD countries, the proportion of adults who do not even have a secondary education degree is 19.8 percent. For Türkiye, this rate is 53.3 percent. Turkey is the country with the highest rate among OECD countries after Mexico and Costa Rica.
While information on the number of secondary school graduates was shared with the public, it was stated that one in every three adults between the ages of 25-64 in Turkey is a primary school graduate.
25.6 PERCENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION GRADUATES ARE NEITHER IN EDUCATION OR EMPLOYED
The report, which examines the education and employment status of young people, stated that 67 percent of people between the ages of 18-24 do not attend school and do not participate in the workforce, and emphasized that Turkey ranks second among OECD countries.
On the other hand, in the report containing data on unemployment of university graduates.
"Turkey is the country with the highest proportion of higher education graduates aged 25-29 who are neither employed nor in education. This rate, which is 9.9 percent on average for OECD countries, is 25.6 percent for Türkiye," the report said.
GRADUATES ARE INCREASING, BUT THEY DO NOT HAVE THE SKILLS THAT EMPLOYMENT DEMANDS
In the evaluation section at the last part of the report, the following statements were made:
"Although the increase in the number and quotas of universities in recent years is promising for increasing the education level of young adults, this increase in education level does not guarantee the skills demanded by the labor market and does not coincide with the needs of the labor market. For this reason, higher education policies in Turkey should be reshaped by taking into account the needs of the labor market."