Topic: Access to Education for Girls
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Stephanie Tanis
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Turkey position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
Turkey has made it its mission to improve primary education, but has primarily been focusing on education for men. Female illiteracy is a major issue in Turkey, with 1 out of 5 women being unable to read or write. Illiteracy is particularly prevalent among rural women, who are often not sent to school as girls. Half of girls aged between 15 and 19 are neither in the education system nor in the workforce. The government and various other foundations are engaged in education campaigns in Southeastern Anatolia to improve the rate of literacy and education levels of women. It is also during times of hardship when women's education is the first to go. But a 2008 poll by the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey showed that almost half of urban Turkish women believe economic independence for women is unnecessary, reflecting a heritage of patriarchy, showing the world that even women themselves do not find it necessary to receive a secondary education. Seeing this, it makes sense why Turkey feels the need to improve primary education for both men and women, but also why Turkey has been focusing on improving secondary education for men as women in Turkey do not find secondary education to be crucial for them.
Following the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, primary education was declared to be compulsory and this status was subsequently secured by Article 42 of the 1982 Constitution. The 1990’s have witnessed great strides in overcoming problems related to primary education in Turkey for both men and women. In August 1997, Parliament approved a new Basic Education Law (4306) which extended the duration of compulsory schooling from five to eight years for women Implementation of the Basic Education Programme was facilitated by the extension of a World Bank loan to supplement governmental funds and donations. Since the Programme’s inception, the net enrollment rate in basic education has increased from 75.6% to 91.8%. Girls’ enrollment rates in rural areas show the most rapid progress where enrollment in grade six increased by 162% in the first year of the Programme. Turkey wants every child in its country to attend a minimum of eight years of education; it is engrained in our constitution.
Turkey would like to see the UN fund more money toward primary education for both men and women. This money should go toward building more schools in rural areas, thus giving citizens no excuse to not attend school. Also, there should be governmental incentives for parents who keep their children in school for all eight years required by the Republic of Turkey and maintain a high attendance rate of over 80% each year.
