Educating Yaprak
Posted on: February 18, 2010
Here is a very interesting article about what the Turkish government is trying to do to improve the education of girls.
Educating Yaprak
Yaprak’s 13 years old – every week she travels from her village in the mountains of eastern Turkey to her boarding school an hour away. Speaking for her companions, she says: “We have an aim. We are going to study. I want to study until the end. I want to finish university. I want to have a job.”
Turkey is a country where literacy and education rates have traditionally lagged behind neighbours like Greece and Bulgaria. In 1997, it embarked on an ambitious campaign targeting those most deprived of education – young teenage girls.
Yaprak’s part of the country’s massive education drive, 8 years compulsory schooling for all children – adding an extra three more years of study to the existing five years of mandatory learning. It’s costing Turkey $3 billion dollars a year to achieve these ambitions. The aim is to ensure that 11-13 year olds don’t miss out and to bring education levels closer to European standards, as Turkey works towards becoming a member of the European Union.
The article was kindly given to the site by Jane Keevill
pebblejacksonproject.wordpress.com 
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