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1. National strategy

2. Formal education: main policy measures on ELET

3. Addressing ELET through non-formal and informal learning and quality youth work

4. Cross-sector coordination and monitoring of ELET interventions

National strategy

Preventing early leaving from education and training in Türkiye is addressed mainly within the broader framework of access, participation, completion and equality in education. A key structural measure in this field was the extension of compulsory education to 12 years in 2012. This reform aimed to increase participation rates, especially at upper secondary level, and to reduce school dropout and absenteeism. The issue is currently addressed through the Ministry of National Education’s 2024–2028 Strategic Plan, which provides the main policy framework for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in education. The Plan includes strategic objectives, targets, indicators and implementation measures designed to improve participation, continuity and educational outcomes, particularly for groups facing barriers to access and completion. The Ministry states that the 2024–2028 Strategic Plan consists of 7 objectives, 33 targets, 130 performance indicators and 147 strategies, and that a Strategic Plan Monitoring and Evaluation Model has been established to track implementationirl students and disabled to access to education, and the share of the private education institutions, a decrease is expected in absence and early leaving. 

Formal education: main policy measures on ELET

According to the Report on Policy Proposals for Grade Repetition, Reasons of Early Leaving from School and Children outside the Formal Education in Secondary Education (Ortaöğretimde Sınıf Tekrarı, Okul Terk Sebepleri ve Örgün Eğitim Dışında Kalan Çocuklar Politika Önerileri Raporu) (2013), children that repeat grade, early leaving from the school and are outside the formal education pose a serious hindrance in socially, economically and culturally sustainable development of Türkiye.  Furthermore, improvement of young population on whom the future of the country is built in terms of social and cultural capital also comes out as a strategic risk factor in formation of a healthy structure of the society. 

In the light of the findings obtained within the scope of the Report on Policy Proposals for Grade Repetition, Reasons of Early Leaving from School and Children outside the Formal Education in Secondary Education (Ortaöğretimde Sınıf Tekrarı, Okul Terk Sebepleri ve Örgün Eğitim Dışında Kalan Çocuklar Politika Önerileri Raporu) (2013), policy proposals are tried to be formed by taking the central organisation of the Ministry of National Education, province, district and school level as basis. The policy proposals that are developed based on research findings and outcomes are:​

• To increase social awareness throughout Türkiye on grade repeating, early leaving from school and children outside the formal education in the general secondary education.

•    To establish communication and cooperation mechanism among the MoE, Ministry of Family and Social Policies, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Youth and Sport and provincial organisations of these Ministries on the matter.

 • To ensure acquisition of required knowledge, skill and approach by the teacher candidates in teacher training programs on the grade repeating, early leaving from school and children outside the education and training through the cooperation with the YÖK (Higher Education Council).

• To develop projects on the grade repeating, early leaving from school and children outside the education and training within the scope of the class of community service practices in the teacher educating institutions.

 • To cooperate with lecturers dealing with research in the university on the education activities directed to the grade repeating, early leaving from school and children outside the formal education.

• To create an optional and transitive system between secondary education programs directed at students with the risk of grade repetition and early leaving from school.

• To ensure that the students are held responsible for only the failed classes instead of the whole grade classes by applying class repetition system instead of grade repetition.

• To ascertain, monitor the students with the risk of grade repetition and early leaving from school, and to take necessary measures.

• To re-regulate the Parent Teacher Association Bylaw to enable parents’ further and more quality participation in the education and training process.

• To introduce legal and organisational regulations aimed at monitoring academic success of all the students in schools and providing make-up education.

• To apply extracurricular activities for pre-puberty and puberty students aimed at improving their social behaviours.

• To prepare an Internet portal containing lesson delivery videos, doing questions, exercises that will support the students on the virtual platform aimed at the classes with low success rate.

Addressing ELET through non-formal and informal learning and quality youth work

The main document proposing solutions in terms of youth work regarding the problems of early leaving from school and absence is the National Youth and Sport Policy Instrument (Ulusal Gençlik ve Spor Politikası Belgesi). Within the scope of this document, there is a target aimed at ensuring regular attendance to school strengthening the measures taken to decrease the early leaving from school rates under the policy field “Education and Lifelong Learning”. Under the policy field entitled “Family” of the same Instrument, it is aimed to increase susceptibility of families regarding the youth and visa-versa, taking of the parent teacher association more active role in the informing activities directed at the youth on family and family education.

Discussing early leaving from school and absence in non-formal education is a result of the education provided mostly by the non-governmental organisations to the youth.  Youth non-governmental organisations that prepare projects aimed at contributing in the school habits of the youth, helping with their school life, strengthening the ties between school-student and family are supported by the mentioned granting programs within the Program to Support Youth Projects of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Gençlik ve Spor Bakanlığı Gençlik Projeleri Destek Programı).

Cross-sector coordination and monitoring of ELET interventions

Preventing early leaving from education and training requires cross-sector coordination as well as monitoring and follow-up mechanisms within the education system. Earlier policy documents already highlighted the need for cooperation among the Ministry of National Education, the ministry responsible for family and social services, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, universities and other public actors, especially in relation to attendance, school-family cooperation and support for students at risk. This approach continues in current policy practice. Recent Ministry interventions on early school leaving combine student-focused, family-focused and school-based measures, and are implemented through guidance and counselling services in secondary education institutions. In addition, the Ministry of National Education 2024–2028 Strategic Plan directly addresses absenteeism, grade repetition and participation in education. In particular:

• Objective 2.1: Absenteeism and grade repetition are to be reduced, and participation in education is to be increased, through measures aimed at improving students’ competences and qualifications while also taking their individual characteristics into account.
• Strategy 2.1.1: Measures are to be implemented to increase participation in upper secondary education, reduce absenteeism and grade repetition, and ensure that students remain in formal education.

In this respect, the Turkish approach to ELET can be described as a combination of educational monitoring, targeted psychosocial support, family involvement and inter-institutional coordination.