In 1985, about one hundred forty thousand teachers working in primary schools needed to be given higher education; it was impossible to grant each of them one or two years of leave, find replacement teachers, or fit them into universities with limited places. The solution was distance education. In this final lesson of the series, we examine the development of distance education in Türkiye from correspondence education to the open education system, the service dimensions of the Open Education Faculty, and its programs for teachers.

Period note: The institutional structure, program lists, and student numbers in this episode reflect the situation in 2008, when the source was published. Open education programs and services have changed and expanded considerably in the following years; for current information, please refer to the official sources of the relevant institutions.

What will you learn in this episode?

• List the first distance education initiatives of the Ministry of National Education in Türkiye
• Explain the aims and common feature of the Correspondence Higher Education Center, the Pilot Higher Teacher Training School, and YAYKUR
• Explain the origins and structure of the Anadolu University Open Education System
• Explain the five service dimensions of the Open Education Faculty and the process of preparing a program
• Recognize the Open Education Faculty’s programs for teachers
• Evaluate the educational problems that distance education has solved in Türkiye

Summary of this episode

First steps with correspondence education

One of the first distance education practices in Türkiye was the Correspondence Education Center (Mektupla Öğretim Merkezi), established under the Ministry of National Education to teach certain technical subjects by correspondence at the secondary level. Although it was one-dimensional and limited in purpose, this center is considered one of the first concrete steps toward the idea of distance education. Another early initiative was a program run in 1956 at a university law faculty for bank employees.

In 1974 the center became the Correspondence Education School, and in the same year, renamed the Correspondence Higher Education Center, it began running programs to train teachers. These programs included fields of the institute of education such as Turkish, social studies, mathematics, science, and foreign languages, as well as the vocational fields of the commerce and tourism, technical, and girls’ technical higher teacher training schools. Tens of thousands of students enrolled; in 1978–1979 the remaining students were transferred to the Gazi Institute of Education, and the initiative came to an end.

The Pilot Higher Teacher Training School and YAYKUR

The Pilot Higher Teacher Training School (Deneme Yüksek Öğretmen Okulu), founded in 1974, aimed to train teachers in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology using the latest technologies and to disseminate the results of this practice. Effective use of television and radio, printed instructional materials, and face-to-face teaching in addition were planned; however, the school was closed a year later, in 1975.

In the same year, to provide higher education to graduates of high schools and equivalent schools, the Non-Formal Higher Education Institution (YAYKUR) was founded under the Ministry of National Education, and all the equipment and buildings of the Correspondence Higher Education Center were transferred to it. YAYKUR ran the following programs:

• Open higher education programs in technical fields, the natural sciences, and the social sciences
• External completion programs of certain teacher training institutions
• Correspondence programs of certain teacher training institutions

Tens of thousands of students enrolled in these programs, bringing a significant increase in higher education capacity. In 1978 it was also planned to provide two years of higher education to about one hundred forty thousand serving primary school teachers with secondary-level education; however, these programs could not be opened.

The common feature of these programs, opened by the Ministry of National Education between 1974 and 1978, is that they sought to solve the problems of teacher training and access to higher education through distance education. The Ministry later introduced the Open High School (Açık Lise), in 1992, and the Open Primary School (Açık İlköğretim Okulu), in 1997; both institutions provide instruction through the distance education system.

Anadolu University Open Education System

These efforts continued until the Higher Education Law No. 2547, enacted in 1981, came into force. The law marked the beginning of a new formation in distance teaching: the Anadolu University Open Education System. The system’s roots go back to work begun in the early 1970s at the Eskişehir Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences. The Institute of Educational Television, which worked on education through television and on instructional technology, was supported as a pilot project by the State Planning Organization; the institute later became the Faculty of Communication Sciences.

In 1982 the Open Education Faculty was founded and the Faculty of Communication Sciences, with its departments, was attached to it; open education practices began at that time. With Decree Law No. 496, issued in 1993, the system was reshaped: Faculties of Economics and Business Administration teaching through the open education method were created, and the Open Education Faculty was given the task of running associate degree, bachelor’s degree completion, and certificate programs and other non-formal education services. Thus the Open Education System became a distance teaching structure made up of the Open Education, Economics, and Business Administration Faculties. At the time the source was published, the system offered seven bachelor’s and twenty-three associate degree programs, with about one million students. The programs covered many fields, such as justice, banking and insurance, accounting, public relations, health, tourism, local government, and agriculture. There were also programs for citizens living in Western Europe.

The five service dimensions of the Open Education Faculty

1. Printed course materials: Prepared according to distance teaching techniques so that students can easily understand them on their own. They are written by teaching staff from Anadolu University and other universities, revised by expert editors, and printed at the university’s printing house.
2. Television and radio programs: Produced in the university’s studios to support the printed materials.
3. Academic advising: Services that bring students together with teaching staff when needed. They are not compulsory and are usually held outside working hours, at the facilities of other universities and with their teaching staff.
4. Student affairs and examinations: Registration, the administration and evaluation of exams, record keeping, and communication are carried out with the support of the university’s computer research center; exams are held at exam centers close to students.
5. E-learning portal: Free online services that allow students to study whenever and wherever they wish: e-book, e-television, e-exercise, e-exam (practice tests), e-advising, e-audiobook, and e-support.

A program to be run through open education is first designed as a project by the faculty; then printed materials are commissioned and edited, supporting broadcasts are prepared, and the advising and examination dimensions are planned.

Programs for teachers

• Associate Degree Program in Education: Law No. 1739 required all teachers to have higher education; yet about one hundred forty thousand serving teachers had only secondary education. Through a protocol between the Ministry of National Education and Anadolu University, a two-year higher education program was opened for these teachers in the 1986–1987 academic year. Teachers who graduated from the program were both equipped with up-to-date knowledge in their fields and gained improved employment rights.
• Associate Degree Program for Community Education Teachers: Created for teachers with secondary education working in community education centers by supplementing the Associate Degree Program in Education with topics related to community education; it ran for two academic years from 1990–1991.
• Bachelor’s Degree Completion Programs: Opened from 1990–1991 onward in subjects such as mathematics, Turkish language and literature, physics, chemistry, biology, and foreign languages, to give subject teachers working in secondary education who had graduated from two- and three-year institutes of education a bachelor’s degree in their own fields.
• Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program in Primary Teaching: Opened in 1997, after compulsory education was extended to eight years, to give classroom teachers with associate degrees a bachelor’s degree and a minor field.
• Bachelor’s Program in Preschool Teaching: Launched in 2000 to train the preschool teachers the country needed; it is equivalent to the formal programs at faculties of education.
• Bachelor’s Program in English Language Teaching: Equivalent to the formal programs at faculties of education; the first two years are partly face to face, and the last two years are delivered entirely through distance teaching.
• Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program in Classroom Teaching: Launched in 2007–2008 to give classroom teachers with associate degrees a bachelor’s degree.

According to the source, about two hundred thousand teachers graduated from these programs.

Problems solved by distance education

Reaching about one million students at the time the source was published, the distance teaching system has contributed to solving many educational problems in Türkiye. Above all by providing teachers with higher education, it has offered associate and bachelor’s degree education to people working in different sectors; it has also taken on the task of contributing to the education of large populations through non-formal education. The obstacles created by the limited capacity of formal education, by students having to leave where they live, and by the time constraints of working people have been largely overcome through distance education.

In short

In Türkiye, distance education began with the correspondence education initiatives of the Ministry of National Education; it continued with experiments such as the Correspondence Higher Education Center, the Pilot Higher Teacher Training School, and YAYKUR, and became a full system with the Open Education Faculty founded in 1982. Operating through printed materials, broadcasts, advising, examinations, and e-learning, this system has played an important role, especially in providing teachers with higher education.

At the end of the series

On our Educational Sciences Essentials journey, we started from the basic concepts of education and examined the psychological, philosophical, political, economic, and historical foundations of education, research in education, the Turkish education system, the teaching profession and teacher education, and finally lifelong and distance education. Watching this series is itself an example of distance and lifelong learning. We wish you continued learning.

Key concepts

• Correspondence Education Center (Mektupla Öğretim Merkezi): One of the first distance education practices in Türkiye, established to teach certain technical subjects by correspondence.
• Correspondence Higher Education Center: An institution that ran distance programs for teacher training in 1974.
• Pilot Higher Teacher Training School: A school that, between 1974 and 1975, aimed to train science and mathematics teachers using new technologies.
• YAYKUR (Non-Formal Higher Education Institution): An institution founded in 1975 under the Ministry of National Education to provide distance higher education to high school graduates.
• Open High School (Açık Lise): An institution, introduced by the Ministry of National Education in 1992, that provides secondary education through distance education.
• Open Primary School (Açık İlköğretim Okulu): An institution, introduced by the Ministry of National Education in 1997, that provides primary education through distance education.
• Open Education Faculty: A faculty founded at Anadolu University in 1982 that provides distance higher education.
• Open Education System: The distance teaching structure made up of the Open Education, Economics, and Business Administration Faculties.
• Academic advising: A non-compulsory support service in which students meet with teaching staff when needed.
• E-learning portal: A system that offers e-book, e-television, e-exercise, e-exam, e-advising, e-audiobook, and e-support services online.
• Bachelor’s degree completion program: A program that gives teachers who graduated from associate degree programs or institutes of education a bachelor’s degree.

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Sources used:
Hakan, A. (2008). Eğitim biliminde yönelimler: Uzaktan eğitim [Trends in educational science: Distance education]. In M. Gültekin (Ed.), Eğitim Bilimine Giriş [Introduction to Educational Science] (Unit 12). Eskişehir: Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayınları.

📚 Academic Use Note: This content is a supporting learning resource prepared with reference to a published course source; it does not replace textbooks, lecture notes or your instructor's teaching. Exams and assessments are based on your course's official curriculum and the sources recommended by your instructor. Simplifications and interpretations in the narration serve instructional purposes; TT Institute Academy cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from possible errors, omissions or outdated information. Information on institutions, programs and figures is presented as it stood at the time the source was published; for current information, please refer to the institutions' official sources.

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