Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer stated that the prior goal of the Ministry is to increase equal opportunity in education and they have been working in an effort to improve schooling rates in all levels of education.

 

Noting that scientific data revealed that preschool education has crucial importance in decreasing success differences among students, Özer went on to say that they prioritized the preschool education schooling rate within this framework.

 

Özer said that the Ministry will open 3,000 new kindergartens and 40,000 new preschool classrooms until the end of this year and the schooling rate among the 3 year old age group will increase from 14 percent to 40, schooling rate among the 4 year old age group will reach 70 percent.

 

"We are aiming at increasing the schooling rate among the 5 year old age groups to 100 percent until the end of this year. Right now, the schooling rate in 29 cities, 10 of them being metropolitans, is above 90 percent. The number of five year old child students who are not enrolled in preschool institutions in 125 districts is below 5 percent. We are considering implementing alternative models in an effort to provide their access to education," said Özer.  

 

Minister Özer reminded that access to preschool education was among the decisions of the National Education Council which was organized on December 1-3 2021.

 

"The council has decided that required physical, humanitarian and financial opportunities must be allocated and must be maintained as soon as possible in an effort to increase the schooling rate among the 5 year old age group. We will continue to work in an effort to achieve this goal. We will implement different models such as mobile teacher, mobile classroom, summer education, home based education, mobile kindergarten in order to provide access to preschool education especially in the disadvantageous regions and for disadvantaged groups