Int'l reports expose Islamist Turkey's poor educational performance.

Int'l reports expose Islamist Turkey's poor educational performance.(TZ).

“Turkey does not make reforms in the educational field with the aim of improving the system. It makes reforms for political purposes,”

Int'l reports expose Turkey's poor educational performanceTwo reports released by international educational institutions ranked Turkey near the bottom among countries in its region and the world, despite huge budgets allocated to the education system in recent years, probably due to frequent changes to the system.

One of the reports was written by the Economist intelligence Unit and published by Pearson, a leading education company. The report, titled “The Learning Curve,” suggests that the Turkish education system ranks 34th among the 44 participating countries.

First place belongs to South Korea, according to the report. In the Pearson report, Turkey ranks behind such countries as Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Chile in terms of the performance and quality of its education system. 

In the 2012 Pearson report, Turkey also ranked 34th. In this year's report, several East Asian nations outperformed the others. South Korea is followed by Japan, Singapore and China. They are then followed by some European countries -- Finland, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Turkey stands below the mean in the fields of cognitive skills and educational attainment, according to the report. The report also stated that developing countries must teach basic skills more effectively before focusing on 21st century skills.

Turkey lags behind OECD countries.The report states that Turkey ranks 34th out of 44 countries.

The report presents an assessment of student performance in creative problem solving, which measures students' capacity to respond to non-routine situations in order to achieve their potential as constructive and reflective citizens.

The research was carried out on groups of 15-year-old students. Turkey stands below the mean in these problem-solving tests.

TÜSİAD President Muharrem Yılmaz said Turkey needs its youth to be able to analyze data and solve problems it encounters. “We must teach our students to gain the skills that they cannot gain from search engines,” he stated.

Güven Sak, executive director of the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), said no sound research had been conducted before switching to the 4+4+4 system and deciding to shut down private exam preparation schools.

“Turkey does not make reforms in the educational field with the aim of improving the system. It makes reforms for political purposes,” he stated. 

Hmmm.....Sounds like Egypt under the Muslim brotherhood, doesn't it ? Read the full story here.

Read the full 'The Learning Curve 2014 Education and skills for life' report here.