Turkey among lowest in spending per student: OECD

ISTANBUL

Turkey is one of the countries with the lowest spending per student, according to a report prepared by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report titled “Education at a Glance 2016” stated that Turkey’s public expenditures for primary and secondary education were below the OECD average.

Turkey was also below the average spending per university, according to the report. The OECD said that one in three students in Turkey were graduates of vocational high schools, stressing the need for a “sustainable fund” in order to provide for education of high quality, drawing attention to the inadequacy of public spending on education. 

One of the notable findings of the report concerned women aged between 15 and 29. According to the OECD, 43 percent of women in the aforementioned age group were neither working nor receiving education, far above the OECD average of 17 percent. 

The ratio of vocational high school graduates dramatically increased between 2005 and 2014 and the graduation ratio from high schools generally increased by 34 percent in the same time period. This increase was higher than in 2005, when it was 17 percent, and 2010, when it was 22 percent. The dramatic increase stems from the fact that religious high schools were accepted into the vocational schools category.

The average graduation age from vocational high schools in OECD countries is 23, whereas the number is 18 in Turkey. 

Moreover, women in Turkey are employed less and earned less compared to men in Turkey. The ratio of women who graduated from higher education and were employed was 58 percent in 2015, while the percentage for men in the same category was 76. The 18 percent gender difference in employment is approximately two times higher than the OECD average difference. 

In addition, a woman who received the same education as a man earned the 84 percent of what the latter earned in Turkey. 

The report also said that Turkey increased its public expenditures for elementary, secondary and high school education by 63 percent between 2008 and 2013. The ratio of students who registered in state schools increased by 7 percent over the same time period, thus spending per student increased by 52 percent. However, despite the increases Turkey was second from the bottom on the OECD list at $3,327 per year.
 
In 2013, the total budget reserved per student was three times higher than the expenditure spent for elementary, secondary and high schools. Turkey increased its annual public budget for higher education institutions by more than double between 2008 and 2013. The number of students registered in the state’s higher education institutions increased by 56 percent between the aforementioned years and the spending per student increased by 32 percent. However, despite the increases, annual spending per student receiving education in higher education institutions remained below the OECD average.