The document discusses school dropout in Istanbul, Turkey. It provides statistics on school attendance and absenteeism. Several programs and initiatives are mentioned to address school dropout by improving attendance, including free textbooks, conditional cash transfers, progressive absence management, and catch-up training. Campaigns aim to get girls enrolled in primary education and help working children access school. Non-formal education options like distance primary/secondary education and public education centers also provide alternatives.

1. ISTANBUL PROVINCIAL DIRECTORATE of NATIONAL EDUCATION

2. WHAT IS SCHOOL DROP OUT…?

3. As general term, it is the termination of education without acquiring any official dimploma or document. In Turkey, as primary education is obligatory, within the legal context under primary education, a definition for school drop out does not exist. The term “ absence ” is used for school drop out. DEFINITION

4. CURRENT SITUATION…

5. There are two main acts and regulations binding the legal framework: Student is considered absent and the family parent or person holding custody is charged with a fine, when, Student does not attend school in rapid succession (number of days not indicated), The excuse of absence have not been declared to school within 3 days, The student has not returned to school upon the official notification sent home. CURRENT SITUATION

6. Main source of information and statistics is primary schools. Schools provide data of absence and drop out to the National Ministry of Education, via the District and Provincial Directorates of Education, at every beginning of school year, at end of every month within the school year. CURRENT SITUATION

7. Although there is a legal and organisational framework, school drop outs occur at primary schools and cause significant problems. CURRENT SITUATION

11. SCHOOLING RATIO NET SCHOOLING RATIO (%) (6-13 Age) MARCH 2010 LEVEL GIRLS BOYS TOTAL 0 TÜRKİYE 98,79 99,31 99,06 3 İSTANBUL 99,04 99,38 99,21 CHILDREN AT PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE BUT NOT ENROLLED TO SCHOOL (6-13 Age) MARCH 2010 LEVEL GIRLS BOYS TOTAL 0 TÜRKİYE 82.172 45.544 127.716 3 İSTANBUL 10.299 6.831 17.130

12. PRIMARY SCHOOL ABSENTS WITHOUT EXCUSE (PRIMARY LEVEL 1-8 GRADE, 6-14 YEARS OLD) **Reasons for absence under “gone abroad”, enrolled to non-formal education”, “older than education age” and “parent demand” are not taken into consideration. MARCH 2010 20-50 DAYS 51-90 DAYS 91 DAYS AND OVER GENERAL TOTAL (A+B+C) LEVEL GIRLS BOYS TOTAL (A) GIRLS BOYS TOTAL (B) GIRLS ERKEK TOTAL (C) 0 TÜRKİYE 107.697 172.265 279.962 53.917 51.173 105.090 66.632 40.489 107.121 492.173 3 İSTANBUL 17.336 28.762 46.098 6.139 7.046 13.185 8.660 6.064 14.724 74.007

13. PRIMARY SCHOOL GRADUATE & SECONDARY SCHOOL NEW ENROLMENT IN ISTANBUL SCHOOL YEAR PRIMARY SCHOOL GRADUATE SECONDARY SCHOOL NEW ENROLMENT BOYS GIRLS TOTAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL 2009-2010 - - - 93.776 82.144 175.920 2008-2009 103.933 93.273 197.206 95.913 82.607 178.520 2007-2008 103.619 94.019 197.638 85.507 73.709 159.216 2006-2007 96.786 87.401 184.187 88.016 74.385 162.401 2005-2006 94.630 84.985 179.615 85.831 72.678 158.509 2004-2005 180.187 96.121 276.908 - - -

14. REASONS…

15. IN TURKEY Low socio-economic level of families Work for making their living Prefer work life for school Low level of skills and abilities Lack of interest in school activities Failure at school Attitute and demands of parents Dislike some teachers and school subjects Problems in mental and physical health Slow pace of reading, disability in doing things on time Broken family and conflicts within the family

16. IN ISTANBUL SPECIFICALLY Large, migrated families, with socio-economic deficiencies urge their children to work instead of going to school. The mobility of some families back to their home village to produce and make money at school time, specially in autumn and spring. Inefficient determination and schooling of children at school age within the neighborhood. Difference in biological age from the age indicated on ID, due to late birth registration.

17. RATIO OF REASONS FOR ABSENCE IN ISTANBUL REASONS FOR ABSENCE NUMBER RATIO ( %) 1 OLDER THAN EDUCATION AGE 20637 43 2 OTHER REASONS 11199 23,36 3 PARENT DEMAND ( REGULATION ARTICLE 15) 3885 8,9 4 GONE ABROAD 3224 6,7 5 FAMILY REASONS 2723 5,6 6 NOT FOUND IN ADDRESS 1514 3,1 7 ABSENT DUE TO HEALTH REASONS 877 1,9 8 DECEASED 901 1,8 9 MENTALLY DIABLED 806 1,73 10 DIFFERENCE IN OFFICIAL AND BIOLOGICAL AGE 573 1 11 DISABILITY MEETING EXPENSES DUE TO ECONOMIC DEFICIENCY 479 0,9 12 CONVENTIONAL REASONS 449 0,9 13 ENROLLED TO NON-FORMAL PRIMARY EDUCATION 242 0,5 14 MIGRATIONS 139 0,2 15 EMPLOYED IN INDUSTRIAL AND SERVICE SECTOR 116 0,1 16 ORTHOPEDICS 112 0,1 17 CHILDREN WORKING ON STREETS 32 0,06 18 CHILDREN EMPLOYED AT HOUSE SERVICES 28 0,05 19 EARLY MARRIAGE AND ENGAGEMENT 25 0,05 20 DISABILITY AND/OR DEFICIENCY IN SIGHT 17 0,03 21 DISABILITY IN HEARING 14 0,02 22 NONEXISTENSE OF 6-8 GRADE CLASSES IN THE REGION 1 0 TOTAL 47993 2,78

18. WHAT DO DROP OUT STUDENTS DO? Sit at home Help his/her mother Work Attend courses Go to internet cafés Babysit children

19. CHALLENGING SCHOOL DROP OUTS…

20. In the 28th article of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child, which is also ratified by our country, it is stated that ‘ countries will take measures to decrease school drop out numbers and provide management for school attendance .’ School administration, teachers, consultants, parent associations and school maintenance associations will work in cooperation in order to take necessary measures about early school drop outs.

21. MAIN IMPLEMENTATIONS… 1- Preventive measures taken to challenge school drop outs 1.1 Free Schoolbook Campaign 1.2 Conditional Cash Transfer 2- Pro-active follow up and evaluation process 2.1 Progressive Absence Management 3- Policies challenging early school drop outs 3.1 Catch Up Training Programme 4- Supportive Campaigns and Projects 4.1 “Hey Girls, Let’s Go to School” Campaign 4.2 Hands on Pens 4.3 Working Children and Children Under Risk

22. 1.1 FREE SCHOOLBOOK CAMPAIGN AIM: Provide free books to every primary schools student. Ministry of National Education put “Free Schoolbook Project in Primary Education” into effect with a decision taken in 2003. Since then, all primary level school books are provided to students, free of charge.

23. AIM: Provide opportunity for the children of poor families to attend schools, through covering their school expenses. These Aids are for needy families who lack social security. They are given by Provincial/District Foundations of Social Help and Solidarity. To benefit from Conditional Cash Transfer Education Aid, student should regularly attend school without exceeding the %80 limit of nonattendance and should not have more than one class repeating. 1.2 CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER

24. 2.1 PROGRESSIVE ABSENCE MANAGEMENT AIM: Enable students to regularly attend school, by p rovid ing and monitor ing early recognition, evaluation and intervention for school absence . Raise awareness in the importance of attendance check at school. Develop rules and principles for attendance follow up. Determine students with risk of absence and drop out at early stage. Ensure precise evaluation and definition of students under risk. Increase variety and efficiency of measures for absence, through increasing cooperation among institutions.

25. 2.1 PROGRESSIVE ABSENCE MANAGEMENT SCHEME PREPARATION PERIOD MAIN IMPLEMENTATIONS PROGRESSIVE ACTION PLANS E-SCHOOL WARNING - Inform parents on importance of regualr attendance at the beginning of school year - Update student and parent information (phone number, address) on e-school every term Use template forms for permition and late papers Develop strategies for challenging internet cafés students go to Create Committee for Absence Follow up ACTIONS Deliver basence report from e-school everyday - Call and talk one-to-one with parent when student has half or full day absence -Send letter home Call home by phone Inform parent face to face Home visit Second home visit Warning of parent/family Legal sanction Risk need assessment School attendence act Follow up Analysis of excuse based absence Differentiation between school fear and running away from school Special care for students with school fear Directing students to guiding services INTERVENTIONS - Education support - Parent support Parent involvement in education process Support in family issues Psychological and behavioral support Support for working child Absence Risk Follow up Economic support Support in coherence at school Support in relations among friends

26. 3.1 CATCH UP TRAINING PROGRAMME (CUTP) AIM: Increase the learning competency and ability of 10-14 year-old children and academically level them with their peers. Due to various reasons of school absence, those children were unable to carry on their education within the obliged timeframe and were lagged behind their peers. Children involved in the programme should be… 10-14 year-old children and students who have never been enrolled in school or currently enrolled in primary school but not attending. Students who are 3 classes behind their peers because of class repeating and are belatedly involved in primary education due to various reasons.

27. 3.1 IMPLEMENTATION OF CUTP IN ISTANBUL From October 14th to December 31st, 2009, the Provincial Directorate for National Education of İstanbul has set up a plan to achieve a target, “ There will not be any child in İstanbul at school-age and not attending school.” Finally, within a short time of 3 months, operating under difficult conditions within this mega city of Istanbul, 1151 children have been redirected back to primary schools. Yet, it is targeted to reach 4000 children by the end of current academic year.

28. AIM: Enable schooling of girls at the obligatory education age (6-14 years), who have never been enrolled to school or been enrolled and absent, through cooperation and contribution of public bodies, foundations, non-governmental organisations, local authorities and volunteers. Eliminating gender inequality for schooling on the level of primary education GOAL To enable school access for all children (100% access) 4.1 “HEY GIRLS, LET’S GO TO SCHOOL” CAMPAIGN

29. 4.1 “HEY GIRLS, LET’S GO TO SCHOOL” CAMPAIGN Within the scope of Turkish Government-UNICEF 2001-2005 Main Application Plan, with the protocol signed between Ministry of National Education and UNICEF, “Support for Girls to Go to School Campaign” has began on June 17th, 2003, in the province of Van. In the first year, the campaign focused on 10 provinces of Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia, where schooling rate of girls is the lowest. In 2004, 23 new provinces joined the campaign. In 2005, activities were carried out in the 53 provinces, where the campaign had first been foreseen. Eversince 2008, it is being implemented all over the country, in the 81 provinces.

30. ACTIVITIES Monitoring students who have not been enrolled or who are absent on e-school database. Determining problems with regard to reasons and developing new central and local solutions to slove those problems. Efforts to regaining girls to school. Raising awareness of parents. Carrying out activities to convince parents to send their children to school. Preparing “Reports on Provincial Education State” by monitoring and evaluating data of schooling ratio in the provincial, district and school level in the e-school database. Sharing the reports with public authorities and heads of provincial directorates of national education. 4.1 “HEY GIRLS, LET’S GO TO SCHOOL” CAMPAIGN

31. 4.1. “HEY GIRLS, LET’S GO TO SCHOOL” CAMPAIGN Within the scope of this campaign, number of the children who have been regained for school according to academic year

32. 4.1. “ HEY GIRLS, LET’S GO TO SCHOOL” CAMPAIGN Net Schooling Ratios for the years that “Hey Girls, Let’s Go to School Campaign” has been implemented - TURKEY ( Gender, Total) Total Girls Boys

33. 4.2. “HANDS on PEN” PROJECT: AIM: Strenghten the ties between schools and children working on the street and convince parents for the importance schooling of their children. Through a protocol signed between Ministry of National Education and Garanti Bank, the first activities have been carried out in Istanbul as a pilot implementation. The project is being carried out by Istanbul Provincial Directorate for National Education, within the Guidance and Counselling Services department. As part of the project activities, school counsellors and classroom teachers of 15 schools in the 5 districts have received training and seminars.

34. 4.3. WORKING CHILDREN and CHILDREN UNDER RISK: AIM: P revent and to raise awareness in the subjects of child labour, child negligence and child abuse . This Project is carried out by International Labour Organisation and Turkey. Purpose of the project , which is due to be implemented between 2010 and 2015, is to enable school access for all children at the obligatory education age (100% access).

35. NON-FORMAL EDUCATION…

36. NON FORMAL EDUCATION DISTANCE PRIMARY EDUCATION DISTANCE SECONDARY EDUCATION DISTANCE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PUBLIC EDUCATION CENTERS

37. DISTANCE PRIMARY EDUCATION Nonformal Primary School has begun with the 1998-1999 academic year, within the body of General Directorate for Education Technologies and is currently in operation. AIM: Provide education-training oppportunities with the principles and techniques of distance learning, to the adults exceeding the age limit for primary education, who remained outside the education system and could not be able to complete primary education due to various reasons. Increase the culture and education level of society. Facilitate our citizens to acquire professions. Provide their contribution to the economic development. Prepare them for higher education.

38. DISTANCE PRIMARY EDUCATION Nonformal Primary School Directorate has been functioning since 1998-1999 academic year with distance learning methods for the students living in; Domestic (81 provinces) and Abroad; West Europe Saudi Arabia; Mecca, Medina, Riyadh Libya; Tripoli

39. DISTANCE PRIMARY EDUCATION “ ACTIVE” STUDENTS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION LEVEL IN 2008-2009 ACADEMIC YEAR IN ISTANBUL 6TH GRADE 7TH GRADE 8TH GRADE GENERAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL 7.151 10.359 17.510 6.232 7.843 14.075 6.722 7.779 14.501 20.105 25.981 46.086

40. DISTANCE PRIMARY EDUCATION YEAR ALLOCATED SOURCE (MILLION TL) NUMBER OF CHILDREN 2003 0.80 24.644 2004 16.67 329.833 2005 61.29 731.784 2006 103.57 876.978 2007 95.94 999.041 2008 118.25 1.026.725

41. DISTANCE SECONDARY EDUCATION Distance secondary education has been provided since 1992. AIM : Provide opportunity of education to those who completed primary education, but did not continue with secondary education or left secondary education without completing. Contribute to the increase and reinforcement of society’s education level and provide equal opportunity and facility on secondary education level. Prepare students for higher education.

42. DISTANCE SECONDARY EDUCATION DISTANCE SECONDARY EDUCATION 2009-2010 ACADEMIC YEAR ACTIVE & PASSIVE STUDENTS ACTIVE PASSIVE TOTAL 108731 16626 125357

43. DISTANCE VOCATIONAL SECONDARY EDUCATION Distance Vocational Secondary Education programme, providing vocational training, with face-to-face education and distance learning methods, has been operating within the body of Distance Secondary School since 1995-1996. In 2006, Distance Vocational Secondary School was founded, and eversince, it has been serving within the body of General Directorate of Education Technologies.

44. DISTANCE VOCATIONAL SECONDARY EDUCATION AIM: Provide opportunity of education to those who completed primary education, but did not continue with secondary education or left secondary education without completing. Contribute to the increase and reinforcement of society’s education level and provide equal opportunity and facility on secondary education level. Prepare students for higher education.

45. DISTANCE VOCATIONAL SECONDARY EDUCATION DISTANCE VOCATIONAL SECONDARY SCHOOL 2009-2010 ACADEMIC YEAR ACTIVE & PASSIVE STUDENTS ACTIVE PASSIVE TOTAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL BOYS GIRLS TOTAL 16.734 18.335 35.069 1.797 1.563 3.360 18.531 19.897 38.429

46. PUBLIC EDUCATION CENTERS Within 41 Public Education Centers in Istanbul, total of 3.336 literacy courses were held in the 2008-2009 academic year. 64.166 citizens, out of 331.877, have benefited from these courses.

47. PUBLIC EDUCATION CENTERS Literacy Courses in İSTANBUL Academic Year Number of the Courses Girls Boys TOTAL 2001-2002 2.067 36.362 9.885 46.247 2002-2003 1.888 27.483 6.881 34.364 2003-2004 1.307 16.315 5.877 22.192 2004-2005 1.792 31.992 7.687 39.679 2005-2006 2.275 44.492 7.538 52.030 2006-2007 1.279 17.423 11.102 28.525 2007-2008 1.222 15.220 8.426 23.646 2008-2009 1.934 23.969 13.192 37.161 2009-2010 15.084 20.262 11.594 31.856 TOTAL 28.848 233.518 82.182 315.700

48. THANK YOU Dr. Muammer YILDIZ Director of İstanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education

49. PROVINCIAL DIRECTORATE FOR NATIONAL EDUCATION OF ISTANBUL STATISTICAL DATA

55. PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION

56. PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION