Education Services in Turkey

In Turkey, students are only required to attend Primary school, which is 8 years long, lasting from the age of 6 until 14. Preschool and kindergarten may be attended for 2 or 3 years before that. At the age of 15, a Turkish citizen may decide either to continue on to optional secondary school, or immediately enter the work force. However, only the compulsory primary school is paid for by the Turkish state; kindergarten and secondary schools both carry a small tuition, which is still more than the average Turkish family can afford. For this reason, many children in Turkey complete only the required 8 years of primary schooling, and attend neither kindergarten nor high school.

 

The school day in Turkey normally starts at 8:15 in the morning with the Turkey National Anthem, lasting until 3 in the afternoon, with an hour off for lunch around noon time. Schools in Turkey usually do not have a cafeteria, so students will either bring their own lunch or go home and eat. Because Turkey has become a secular state, prayer is not allowed in school, nor is the wearing of the Muslim head scarf or hijab permitted. However, the schools in Turkey do offer a religion class, which mostly focuses on the Islamic faith.