Education in Turkey

Education in Turkey is governed by a national system which was established in accordance with the Atatürk's Reforms. It is a state-supervised system designed to produce a skillful professional class for the social and economic institutes of the nation.

Compulsory education lasts 12 years. Primary and secondary education is financed by the state and free of charge in public schools, between the ages of 6 and 19. Turkey has over 200 universities as of 2022. ÖSYS, after which high school graduates are assigned to university according to their performance.

Turkey has 97% of primary school enrollment among all eligible children as of 2019. This number has significantly dropped with the Syrian refugee crisis. Many Syrian children left school during the crisis.

In 2002, the total expenditure on education in Turkey amounted to $13.4 billion, including the state budget allocated through the National Ministry of Education and private and international funds. The share of national wealth invested in educational institutions is higher in Turkey than average among OECD countries. Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey is the main national body of R&D in Turkey.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that when taking into consideration Turkey's income level, the nation is achieving 61.7% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and 86.1% for secondary education.