Erdoğan: Education reforms aim for 'Century of Türkiye'

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has praised his administration's investments in education, saying that the country is moving closer to achieving the "Century of Türkiye" vision.

“We have taken historic steps in 22 years that objective ministers admire,” Erdoğan said at an education summit in Istanbul on Sept. 6.

Erdoğan detailed the efforts made in education during his tenure, including the doubling of classrooms from 367,000 in 2002 to over 700,000 today, and increasing the number of teachers from 540,000 to 1.2 million.

"We have strengthened equal opportunities in education. We have distributed 4 billion textbooks free of charge," Erdoğan said. "With every investment we make in education, we are getting closer to our 'Century of Türkiye' goal."

Among the reforms he highlighted were the introduction of new elective courses in diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, agriculture and the history of Islamic science, and improvements in school infrastructure.

Erdoğan noted that fiber internet has been provided to 16,000 schools, with wired internet now in place at 28,000 and interactive boards installed in 626,500 classrooms.

He pledged to bring high-speed internet to the remaining schools without it.

The president said Türkiye has surpassed many countries in digital learning, with a 91 percent rate of adoption.

"God willing, we will reach better places," he said.

He also announced a new initiative in vocational and technical education, highlighting a recently approved curriculum.

"With the 'Maarif model,' we aim to raise our children as open-minded and broad-minded individuals," Erdoğan said.

The new curriculum is set to be implemented gradually starting next academic year, initially targeting preschool, first grade, fifth grade and first-year high school students.

"We aim for students to be solution-oriented, competent individuals who study, research and question national, spiritual and human values," Erdoğan said during a previous gathering in Istanbul.

The new curriculum was designed to align with international standards and address global demands for advanced science and technology, according to the president.

He expressed confidence that the new model would further enhance Türkiye's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings.

Responding to criticism, Erdoğan called for the topic of education to be "kept away from the contentious area of daily political debates."

Meanwhile, a draft teaching profession law, currently under debate in parliament, seeks to reshape career advancement and appointment procedures for educators.