2024
The Century of Türkiye Education Model Preschool Education Program
All processes of the Century of Türkiye Education Model Preschool Education Program, which is the first step of the skill-based program design that starts from preschool and continues to the 12th grade and is built upon each other, have been completed and published to be implemented in the 2024-2025 academic year and beyond. Within the scope of the the Century of Türkiye Education Model Preschool Education Program Trainer Training, training programs have been organized for preschool teachers. In line with the the Century of Türkiye Education Model Preschool Education Program, it is planned to offer the teacher guide book and children's activity book to preschool educational institutions free of charge.
Mobile Teacher Class and Transportation Center Kindergarten Class Pilot Applications
In order to provide access to education for children in settlements without schools, the “Mobile Teacher Class” model, where a teacher provides flexible-time education in more than one center, and the “Transportation Center Kindergarten Class” model, where children in more than one settlement receive education in a single center, have been developed. In the 2023-2024 academic year, 19 mobile teacher classes were implemented in 10 provinces with 54 villages and 314 children, and 66 transportation center kindergarten classes were implemented in 17 provinces with 249 villages and 1349 children.
Preschool Education School Adaptation Guide and Activity Calendars
In order to support the adaptation process to be carried out with families and children, a school adaptation guide and a presentation for the meeting have been prepared. The guide also includes behaviors expected from families, teachers, and school administration, behaviors to be avoided, and an application schedule for the adaptation week and 12 activity examples. In the 2023-2024 academic year, the "Preschool Education Midterm Break Activity Calendar", "Preschool Education Term Break Activity Calendar" and "Family and Child Term Break Activity Calendar" have been delivered free of charge to children attending preschool education.
The Richness of Our Language in Preschool Education
An Action Plan has been published for the work to be carried out in the Richness of Our Language Project in order to develop the vocabulary of children attending preschool education and to support early literacy skills. In the action plan, a Family Letter prepared for families and Activity Samples for Teachers have been prepared and delivered to schools.
Digital Citizenship Education Project
The aim of the project is to strengthen the child's presence in digital environments, to strengthen inclusiveness through digital citizenship education and to introduce the concept of digital citizenship and basic competencies with complementary measures. The project continues with the Council of Europe within the scope of the Horizontal Support Program for the Western Balkans and Türkiye to create a culture of democracy in schools and to promote human rights and a culture of democracy. Within the scope of the project, training for Digital Citizenship Education coordinators and teachers has been completed and a podcast competition on digital citizenship has been held. The preparation of e-content for teachers on digital citizenship continues. The preparation process of content for children and families (child-friendly handbook etc.) is ongoing. Within the scope of the project, it is planned to prepare a web-based game for students to become good digital citizens.
Family Bulletin in Preschool Education
Our Ministry has been preparing a “Monthly Family Bulletin” for families with children attending preschool education. A survey was available to Preschool Teachers in order to determine the topics to be covered in the Monthly Family Bulletins. The 10 pieces of preferred educational content as a result of the feedback from the teachers has been determined as “parental attitudes, the importance of play, the role of family in education, adaptation and behavioral problems seen in children, conscious use of technology, the purpose and importance of preschool education, privacy education, effective communication, positive discipline, developmental characteristics of the child, moral education”. In the Monthly Family Bulletins prepared by evaluating the survey results, care is taken to use a language that families can easily understand. The bulletins are published digitally. In order for the Monthly Family Bulletins to be sustainable, they are prepared to include different topics and suggestions for families every month.
Early Childhood Education Project for Syrian and Needy Turkish Children in Türkiye
It is carried out in cooperation with our Ministry and the German International Cooperation Agency in order to expand early childhood education services and increase access to early childhood education. Within the scope of the project, a total of 68,137 children, 8,570 of whom are foreign nationals and 59,567 of whom are Turkish, benefited from the 37-62 month old children's playrooms opened within the public education centers in the project provinces. As of May 2024, equipment/educational materials and stationery supplies has been sent to 44 public education centers.
2023
The “365 Days of Stories" Study in Early Childhood in Education
Starting from early childhood, a project called "365 Days of Stories" has been initiated by the General Directorate of Basic Education in order to give children the habit of reading, increase their vocabulary, and support the development of listening and speaking abilities in order to write short story books needed for children of preschool age. Within the scope of the project, the “365 Days of Stories Set” consisting of 53 illustrated children's books was distributed to all official preschool education institutions between 2021-2023.
The activities for the dubbing and preparation for digital formatting of 53 story books in the 365 Days of Stories set were carried out in cooperation with the General Directorate of Basic Education and the General Directorate of Innovation and Educational Technologies, and a web page was created for the prepared books in cooperation with the General Directorate of Information Processing. In addition, story books have been translated into English and dubbed, and the contents of the story books have been turned into children's songs to be used on English platforms developed by our Ministry. The vocalizations of the story books can be accessed at https://365gunoyku.meb.gov.tr/#/.
Nutrition Support in Preschool Education
Pilot studies on nutrition support by our Ministry for children in unfavorable settlements who continue preschool education were carried out in the 2021-2022 academic year by determining schools in unfavorable settlements in 22 districts of Gaziantep, Hatay and Şanlıurfa provinces. In this context, a total of 15,920 children were provided with nutrition support. In the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year, all studies have been completed to provide one-meal nutrition support to 60,000 children nationwide and the necessary funds have been sent to school principals, thus starting to provide one-meal free nutritional service in preschool education.
As a result of the pilot studies, a one-meal free nutrition support application was made to all official preschool educational institutions in the second semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. In the 2023-2024 academic year, the practice of providing one meal free of charge in 11 provinces affected by the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023 still continues.
Early Childhood Education Project (ECE) for Syrian and Needy Turkish Children in Turkiye
In order to expand early childhood education services and increase access to early childhood education, the “Early Childhood Education for Syrian Children and Needy Turkish Children in Turkiye” protocol was signed on May 29, 2920 in cooperation with the Directorate General for Lifelong Learning, the Directorate General for Basic Education and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). With the additional protocol signed on February 2, 2022, the project was extended until September, 30, 2023. The Early Childhood Education Project is carried out according to the Operation Plan created every year within the framework of the protocol in question. The project aims to improve the conditions that support early childhood development for Syrian children aged 3-6 and disadvantaged children in the host community. In the 2022-2023 academic year, 6,935 foreign children benefited from the children's playrooms in public education centers in the provinces covered by the project.
Parent-Child Support Training Program
The Child Support Training Program and Parent Support Tratining Program, whose Framework Program was prepared by the General Directorate of Basic Education and approved by the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning and added to the e-General System, have brought to life the first official intervention program that includes the child and the family in the education process at the same time.
With the Child Support Training Program and Parent Support Training Program, it is aimed to increase the interaction of parents with their children between the ages of 3-6, support the holistic development of children and support parent-child development in a holistic manner. The Parent Child Support Training Program Implementation Guide has also been prepared to guide implementers and prevent possible disruptions in implementation.
With this program, it is aimed to ensure that children aged 3-4-5, primarily 5 years old, who cannot access pre-school education due to various reasons (insufficient physical capacity due to dense population, children from poor households, settlements without schools, etc.) benefit from pre-school education, that empty classrooms in schools outside of school hours can be used effectively, and that parents are informed about their children's development (cognitive, social emotional, physical, language and self-care).
My Playbox Set and Early Childhood Education Calendar
A “My Playbox Set” containing 52 different materials was prepared to support children who live in unfavorable households and who do not have access to preschool education in the home environment. In addition, a home-based access model has been developed in which the set in question is delivered to the child and the family through the preschool teacher and the school principal, the child's development is monitored and supported and the family is guided through regular home visits every month. In the 2019-2020 academic year, 500 chests, the 2020-2021, 3200 chests, and in 2021-2022, 9476 chests were delivered to the children's homes and regular home visits were carried out. In the 2022-2023 academic year, 13,200 "My Playbox Sets" were delivered to the children, and 12,000 of these sets were delivered to the preschool children of the families affected by the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş occured on February 06, 2023.
The Early Childhood Education Calendar, included in the My Playbox set, starts with September, when schools open, and the calendar includes various contents such as activities that families can do with their children for 365 days, interesting information, a quote of the day, entertaining narratives introducing various geographical regions of our country, games and experiments. The Early Childhood Education Calendar, which was prepared to be sent to children in disadvantaged households, has been made available for use in a digital environment for the benefit of all families and preschool age groups.
Project for Supporting Inclusive Education for Children in the Turkish Education System (PIKTES+)
Within the scope of the “Project for Supporting Inclusive Education for Children in the Turkish Education System” (PIKTES+), in order to increase the school readiness levels of Turkish and foreign children who will start primary school in September (children aged 5-6) but have not benefited from pre-school education and to ensure that they start primary school on equal terms with their peers, support is provided to early childhood education carried out by our Ministry. A total of 23,915 children benefited from early childhood education from November 1, 2022, when PIKTES+ started to be implemented, until June 30, 2024. In addition, in order to increase the quality of the educational environment, equipment, air conditioning, stationery and educational material sets are sent to schools providing early childhood education during the summer period. In this context, 1000 air conditioning units and 1000 stationery and educational material sets were delivered to schools by the PIKTES Coordination Office.
In addition to activities aimed at increasing the enrollment rates of early childhood children and improving educational environments, educational materials are also being prepared to increase the opportunity to benefit from a critical period in language development. In this context, Turkish Learning Cards have been prepared to support the Turkish learning processes of foreign students receiving pre-school education. It is planned to continue program and material development studies to meet the language learning needs of foreign students appropriate to their age in the 2024-2025 academic year.