Admission requirements and choice of ECEC setting
New registrations in pre-school institutions for children aged 0–68 months start on the first business day of July. Registration is done through the e-school system, based on the residential address information in the national address database created as per the provisions of the Population Services Law No 5490, dated 25 April/4/ 2006. No documents are requested from the parents and guardians during the registration process.
Children of martyrs, veterans and war veterans, and children in need of special education, as set out in a guidance and research centre report, are enrolled in a school compatible with their place of residence and are transferred to the school they want regardless of their address in the national address database, provided that they document their eligibility. (Ministry of National Education Regulation on Preschool Education and Primary Education Institutions, Article 11).
Regarding enrolment in pre-school educational institutions, children aged 36–68 months are enrolled in kindergarten as of the end of September of the enrolment year. Children who reside in the catchment area of the school and will start primary school in the next academic year can be enrolled in kindergarten and preparatory classes for children aged 36–56 months and 45–56 months, as long as there is sufficient physical space. In schools where there are not enough children in a specific age group to form a group, children aged 36–68 months old children can be enrolled in the same nursery class. Children aged 69–71 months, whose enrolment in primary school was postponed for 1 year and did not receive pre-school education in the previous year, are given priority in enrolment in pre-school educational institutions.
Group size and child/staff ratios
The number of children in a group should not be lower than 10 or greater than 20. However, the number of children can be increased if there is demand and the school’s facilities are sufficient. If the number of children is high, a second group is formed. However, a new group cannot be created until the maximum number of children in each group is reached. Groups whose number of children falls below 10 during the academic year are usually combined with other groups. If this is not possible, these groups continue as they are until the end of the academic year.
Annual, weekly and daily organisation
The duration of the academic year in preschool educational institutions should not be less than 180 working days. The duration of the school year is calculated by counting the days when the school is open from the day the classes start until the day they are terminated, including official holidays for which students attend ceremonies. Other official holidays and days when the school is not open for whatever reason are not taken into account. These are counted as half days in the morning and in the afternoon in schools providing normal education, and as full days in schools providing dual education. The type of education is determined by the number of hours spent in schools (Ministry of National Education Regulation on Preschool Education and Primary Education Institutions, Article 5).
Preschool institutions offer 6 continuous activity periods of 50 minutes per day, including starting the day, playing, feeding, cleaning, activity, rest and evaluation of the day (Ministry of National Education Regulation on Preschool Education and Primary Education Institutions, Article 6).
Preschool activities in educational institutions are prepared by group teachers at the beginning of the school year. In this programme, administrators and teachers organise classes lasting 50 minutes over 6 activity periods in line with children’s interests, wishes and capabilities. Monthly flows are planned accordingly.
In preschool education, it is recommended that the teacher plan their teaching in 1-month blocks. The monthly plan is a work plan that includes the acquisitions and indicators, concepts, field trips, special days and weeks, and family participation and evaluation processes to plan activities to support the development of the children with whom the teacher works. It is important to consider the developmental characteristics that should be supported according to the information obtained from the observations in the preparation of the monthly plan. Teachers regularly update the schedule of daily education to determine which activities to carry out each day. The schedule of daily education includes routine activities such as starting the day, games, events, evaluation, feeding and resting.
To promote and develop preschool education, when the number of children in a group is lower than 10 or greater than 20, summer training covering important subjects is approved by the principal of the school and can be provided for not more than 2 months, in line with the preschool educational programme, to meet the demands of the parents and guardians. During this summer training, children who cannot benefit from preschool education and will start primary school in the coming years are given priority.