A Gender Review in Education, Turkey 2003 (5)

Student Profile

Three schoolgirls in Paslıkaya village, Hatay, Southern Turkey

A birth certificate is required after the completion of primary school education in order to prepare a diploma with accurate information about the diploma holder.
Photograph by Rana Mullan © UNICEF Turkey 2003

Early Childhood Education

What percentage of parents is involved in parenting programmes?

Figures are not available. However, limited numbers of parents have taken part in parenting programmes conducted by NGOs, the Ministry of National Education (MONE) and local administrations. With the participation of MONE Directorate General of Non-formal Education, Gazi University and the UNICEF trained 16,426 mother and child pairs in 59 provinces under the 0-4 Age Child and Mother Education Programme.

MONE, the Mother and Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) and the World Bank conducted training to support child’s development via parents in 59 provinces and 184 Public Education Centers. 92,500 mother and child pairs have been educated.

MONE Directorate General of Girls’ Vocational Education also has parental training programs. Between 1998 and 2002, 1,008,162 people had training. Since 2001-2002, fathers have been invited to the program and last year 85,175 men and 225,631 women took part -- a total of 310,806.

Do girls and boys have equal opportunities for sleep, rest and play?

No -- girls, especially in rural areas, are expected to help with household chores, taking care of their younger brothers and sisters and even with agricultural production from early ages on.

Birth Registration

What is the estimated percentage of children registered at birth?

Estimated percentages of unregistered children are not available. However, it is known that there are unregistered children.

**Table 1:** Birth Registration
Births	Total	Girls	Boys	Gender Gap
Registered Births¹	1,141,898	549,219	592,679	43,460

¹ Figures on the percentage of children registered at birth are not available. Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2001.

Are birth certificates required for entry into school or eligibility for examinations?

No -- A birth certificate is required after the completion of primary school education in order to prepare a diploma with accurate information about the diploma holder.

Working Children

**Table 2:** Child Labour Figures
Working Children	Total	Girls	Boys	Gender Gap
Working Children²	1,635,000	625,000	1,010,000	385,000
Working Children (6-14 years)³	511,000	212,000	299,000	87,000
Domestic (6-14 years)⁴	27.6%	39.3%	16.4%	22.9%

² Working children reached via household statistics. SIS, Child Labour, 2003.

³ ibidem

⁴ CEDAW Country Report 2003, Annex: Girls in Rural Areas, Household Chores, p15, CEDAW 2003. Percentages: SIS 1999.

Children who have been subjected to sexual exploitation, trafficking and other forms of violence?

No figures are available. Although sexual exploitation, trafficking and other forms of violence is banned by law, many children and/or parents decline from filing a complaint due to social and psychological factors. Furthermore these figures are not nationally compiled.
Association of Child Abuse and Neglect 2003.

Are there seasonal factors or certain tasks that keep children out of school at certain times?

Yes -- due to seasonal agricultural work and excessive snow, rural children especially are kept out of school at certain times. Primary schools should open for 180 school days. Local authorities decide the dates.

Crisis, Conflict and Instability

Has the country, or any part of the country, been affected by crisis (including natural disaster), conflict or instability in the last 10 years?

Yes -- an earthquake in the Marmara Region in 1999 lead to the loss of approximately 17,000 lives and terrorism in last decade caused the loss of approximately 30,000 lives.

Several economic crises have led to high unemployment.

These call for special support programmes to restore learning opportunities for both parents and children, such as building new schools, conducting psycho-social education programmes for children and adults particularly for those who could not attend the school and those who have severe loss. Additional problems need to be dealt with due to internal migration caused by the crisis.

**Table 3:** Unemployment
Unemployment⁵	Total	Female	Male	Gender Gap
Urban	29.5%	17%	12.5%	4.5%
Rural	7.3%	2.3%	5%	2.7%

⁵ SIS, 2002.

Have any psychosocial programmes run for children and/or teachers?

Yes -- MONE and UNICEF conducted the ‘Psychosocial School Project’ for children after the Marmara earthquake. 320 counsellors, 8,235 teachers and 13,000 students took part in the project until the end of February 2000.
Psychosocial School Project Evaluation Report, MONE-UNICEF 2001.

Read more about the MONE and UNICEF Psychosocial School Project for children affected by the Marmara earthquakes in Less Fearful, More Active.

The Association of Child Abuse and Neglect can be contacted through Türkay Asma, Solicitor. Telephone +90 (0)312 417 9601.

Continue to the sixth part of A Gender Review in Education, Turkey 2003, Content of Curriculum.

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