Nearly 8 percent of girls in Türkiye out of school, ministry figures show

Photo: AA/File

The enrolment rate of girls in preschool and secondary education is 95 percent in Türkiye, the Ministry of National Education said on Saturday (October 22).

A total of 17,27 million students received primary, secondary and/or higher education, according to the ministry statistics.

These are vast improvements compared to the 2000s, the ministry said. Back then, the preschool enrolment rate was 11 percent and the enrolment rate in secondary education was 44 percent, it said.

The enrolment rate in higher education rose from 14 to 44 percent, which means Türkiye has reached the schooling rates of the OECD countries, said the ministry. Additionally, in 2014 the rates of girls in higher education surpassed that of boys, and, in 2016, it exceeded that of boys in secondary education.

However, according to the statistics in 2021-2022, some 866,000 girls in the country were out of education. This accounts for nearly 8 percent of all girls in the country.

Moreover, the rate of the girls out of education increases as the level of education increases, with 195,000 girls in primary school age, 298,000 in secondary school and 373,000 in high school cannot go to school.

These figures led to criticism on October 11, International Day of the Girl Child, by children's right groups and opposition politicians. (RT/WM/VK)