This review was developed in co‑operation with UNICEF, whose staff provided valuable guidance and direction. We are indebted to the guidance, support and insights of the UNICEF Turkey office, notably Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF Representative in Turkey, Brenda Haiplik, Chief of Education, Mehmet Buldu, Education Specialist, Yesim Hanci, Education Officer, and Ayşin Taş, Education Programme Associate.
The review team would also like to thank the Turkish government, under the leadership of the Ministry of National Education for their support and contributions to the review. The review has benefited from the support of Deputy Minister, Mahmut Özer, and his team.
We are very grateful to the officials and education experts from the Ministry of National Education and beyond, who graciously shared their insights and knowledge with us. We would like to thank officials from the General Directorate of Measurement, Evaluation and Examination Services in the Ministry of National Education who oriented and guided the OECD team throughout the review. In particular, we would like to thank Director General Sadri Şensoy and the former Director General Bayram Cetin, as well as, Bayram Taran, Kemal Bülbül, Amine Canıdemir, Mehmet Ali Aydoğmuş, Meryem Pektaş, Mehmet Ali Işıkoğlu, and Emel Ilican. We would also like to extend our thanks to staff from the Board of Education, Strategy Department, Board of Inspection, Information Technology Department, General Directorates of Teacher Training and Development, Special Education and Counselling Services, Basic Education, Secondary Education, Technical and Vocational Education, Religious Instruction, European Union Affairs and Foreign Relations and the Provincial Directorate of Ankara.
We would like to thank the Deputy Head of the Measurement, Selection and Placement Centre (ÖSYM), Ahmet Yaşar Özban, as well as Hülya Kodal Sevindir, Emrah Ertüzün and Nihal Buldu, who provided valuable understanding of the examination at the end of compulsory education.
We sincerely thank all the participants in the review visits, including officials from the Ministry of National Education, the Measurement, Selection and Placement Centre, the Turkish Statistical Institute, the World Bank, researchers, non-governmental organisations, school leaders, teachers and students who kindly gave their time to share their views, experience and knowledge with us. We would especially like to thank the schools in Ankara Province for welcoming us so warmly during our review visits.
The OECD review team was led by Elizabeth Fordham, OECD Secretariat, co‑ordinated by Hannah Kitchen, OECD Secretariat, and included George Bethell (Director, Anglia Assessment, United Kingdom), Kirsteen Henderson (external expert, Canada), Ruochen Richard Li (OECD Secretariat), Soumaya Maghnouj (OECD Secretariat) and Roger Murphy (Professor, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom). We would like to thank Laila Massaia, who provided valuable linguistic support. Within the OECD Secretariat, we would also like to thank Manuela Fitzpatrick, Aanya Niaz and Sakshi Mishra who made very helpful contributions to the report. The review team also acknowledges the support and contributions from Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills, and Paulo Santiago, Head of Policy Advice and Implementation Division. Célia Braga-Schich and Sara Gouveia provided administrative support and organised the publication process, and Eléonore Morena edited the report.