Educational systems in our countries

1 COMPULSORY EDUCATION 

  • GREECE .9 years (from 6 to 15)
  • ITALY 10 years (from 6 to 16)
  • POLAND Children must attend compulsory full-time education from the age of five (compulsory year of pre-primary education) six years of primary school and three years of lower secondary school. Compulsory part-time education in the school or out-of-school forms lasts from 16 until 18 years of age. Compulsory education lasts 13-14 years (with kindergarten 15-16)
  • PORTUGAL 12 years or till 18 years old
  • TURKEY 12 years (from 6 to 18)

2 EDUCATION DIVISION

  • GREECE kindergarten, primary school, high school, general high school, vocational high school, technical schools (public and private), Technological Educational Institutions, universities, private universities 
  • ITALY Kindergarten, Primary school, Lower secondary school, Upper secondary school, Higher education (University, High Level Arts and Music education, Post secondary technical education and training) 
  • POLAND 
    • Kindergarten
    • Primary School
    • Gymnasium
    • Upper- Secondary school: comprehensive schools, technical schools, vocational schools, non-tertiary school
    • Higher education and types of institution: universities, technical HEIs, agricultural HEIs, HEIs for Economics, pedagogical HEIs, medical academies 
  • PORTUGAL 
    • Childhood education; 
    • 1st and 2nd cycle (primary school);
    • 3rd cycle (general and vocational); secondary school (general and professional high school);
    • public and private Technological Educational Institutions; public and private universities.
  • TURKEY 
    • Primary education
      • The four year and compulsory primary schools 
      • The four year and compulsory lower secondary schools which give opportunity to allow between different programmes
      • Lower secondary schools for imams and preachers
      • Open Lower Secondary School 
    • Upper Secondary Education
      • Upper secondary education includes all the teaching institutions, general, vocational and technical education institutions with at least four year compulsory formal or non-formal education, based on primary and lower secondary education 

3. ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION

  • GREECE national exams
  • ITALY National admission tests to attend Architecture, Medicine, Veterinary, Health care University 
  • POLAND 
    • Upper secondary schools – at the end of the course, the general upper secondary school and the technical upper secondary school organize final/matriculation examinations. The matura examination entitling pupils to get admission to higher education is made up of two parts: external written (prepared and assessed by Regional Examination Commissions) and internal oral (assessed by school teachers) exams.
    • Obligatory school subjects, that must be taken during the matura examination: Polish language, mathematics and a foreign language. However, each student is also obliged to take the exam in one additional subject in the written part of extended level or – in the case of a modern foreign language – extended or bilingual level.
    • The final upper secondary examination certificate (świadectwo maturalne) is required by all institutions for the admission to higher education. Admission is based on the results of egzamin maturalny examination. Additional admission requirements depend on the type of institution or faculty (e.g. predisposition tests in the field of arts and sports).
  • PORTUGAL National exams in: 2 subjects in the 11th grade; 2 subjects in the 12th grade. 
  • TURKEY Two national examinations to go to university. It is the same for general, technical and vocational schools. The first exam (YGS) is in March and the second exam (LYS) in June. The subjects are Turkish, History, Geography, Philosophy, Religion, Maths, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Foreign Language. The percentage of points gained from the subjects are differentiated according to the fields of study in university. With the points gained in the first exam (YGS), some programmes like Computer, Anaesthesia, Cooking, Human Resources Management, etc. can be studied. Graduates of vocational high schools can attend study upper vocational schools for two years. 

4 BUDGET GIVEN FOR THE EDUCATION

  • GREECE 4.1% of the GNP (Gross National Product )
  • ITALY  4.1% of the GNP  (2014) 
  • POLAND In 2016 it is planned to spend the amount of 12.45% on education and educational care. Planned share of expenditure on education in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been designed in the amount of only 2.43%, decreasing by 0.06 points% (in 2015).This is another year of decline in the share of these expenditures in GDP. In 2015 the indicator of the share of expenditure on education and educational care educational amounted to 13.03%. In 2014. Poland, expenditure on education amounting to 4.94 per cent. GDP, was ranked in the EU statement on the 9th place from the end. In 2013, it amounted to 3.6% of GDP.
  • PORTUGAL 4.0% (2014) 
  • TURKEY The portion of the budget given for the education in Turkey is 4.23 % of the GNP

5. MEASURES TO COMBAT DROPOUT

  • GREECE .
    • The Greek Ministry of Education has central control over state schools (common curriculum, controlled school staff and funding).
    • At the regional level, the Regional Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education has the supervisory role of the Ministry. There are also, Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education in every prefecture.
    • This means that all the applied measures are planned by the Ministry and some of these are the following :
    • Special Legislation which facilitates Roma students’ school attendance 
    • Special Preparatory Classes (called reception classes) for children who derive from minority groups in order to learn the Greek language and conduce to their social integration
    • Research and Intervention Action Programmes in cooperation with Universities
    • Educational activities and material which are relative and take under consideration the minority groups from different cultural capitals
    • Integration Classes for students with special needs
    • Open-ended curricula
  • ITALY to prevent Early school leaving, starting from this school year, in each school there is an additional number of teachers to support students, Italian classes for foreign students and stage in industry and local companies (400 hours in technical and vocational course and 200 hours for licei) 
  • POLAND 
    • increase the availability and improve the quality of early childhood education, especially in rural areas,
    • provides additional activities aimed at developing interests and talents of students,
    • improves the quality of teaching and learning at all levels,
    • ensure that general and vocational education is better suited to the socio-economic needs and the labour market,
    • develop the vocational training model,
    • creates the national system of qualification and validation,
    • strengthens the role of educational and vocational guidance in schools.
  • PORTUGAL 
    • The Ministry of Education has put emphasis on vocational education/training
    • In basic and secondary levels of education;
    • Schools with autonomy agreements established between the authority and the schools, aiming at providing them with greater freedom to manage curriculums and flexible subject schedules in different years, special help for students with special needs and extra lessons in subjects with higher levels of failure.
    • The project “Edu-Living & Edu-leaving” tried to change the school atmosphere, promoting students’ motivation to stay at school, by increasing their level of satisfaction. To reach this goal students were asked what they’d like to change at school and were encouraged to take action in order to get what they wished. Students in upper classes, playing the role of peer partners, interacted with students in lower classes helping them to make their projects come true, and to get better results.
  • TURKEY 
    • Overcoming the socio-cultural, psycho-social and social obstacles
    • Works have been done to change values of gender, pass over economic obstacles and better children’s health. The most extensive and effective campaign have been “Girls, let’s go to school-Support to schooling of girls” campaign. It started in 10 cities in 2003 and then spread throughout the country in 2004-2006 years. 
    • Overcoming the economic obstacles
    • Delivery of books free of payment
    • Providing the students in Regional Boarding Schools free lunch 
    • Social protection policies about reducing the direct effects of poverty on dropout from education:
    • Conditional Educational Grant is given to the 6 % of the poorest population since 2003. It is the condition to continue to school 80 % in each term in order to benefit from it.
    • Sheltering, transportation and food supplies
    • Education materials (clothes, shoes, bags)
    • Scholarships given by National Education Ministry and General Directorate of the Foundations
    • Social protection policies about reducing the indirect affects of poverty on dropout from education:
    • Green Card was started in 1992 for the people to benefit from health services who are not within social security system.
    • General Health Insurance started in 2004 for the children to benefit from health services who are under 18 years old.
    • Conditional Health Grant was started in 2003 for the children to benefit from health services who are under 6 years old. It is a condition to have regular checkouts in order to benefit from it.
    • Social protection policies and social involvement programs about some groups of children with high dropout risk
    • Disabled Care Income (since 2005)
    • Social Support Program (since 2008)
    • Projects to struggle against children workers
    • Society for Social Services and Protection of Children
    • Policies related to School Environment
    • Increasing the Number of Teachers and Classes
    • Winning Back the Children out of School
      • -Raising Class Education Program (2008)
      • -Every Child Succeeds Project (2011) 
    • Expansion of Pre-primary Education
    • Free Transportation of the Disabled Children to Schools
    • Policies related to Governance and Financing in Education Sector
    • Foundation of Management Information System (e-school was developed in 2007 with the aim of following the children dropout of school or having the risk to dropout)
    • Increasing the Financing Resources for Investment 
    • Creating new resources to increase the number of classrooms was one of the policies. Among the campaigns, “100 % Support to Education” and “Dad, Send Me to School” have been the most significant ones.
    • Transition to the Budget and Governance System Based on Performance 
    • Following the Public Monetary Management and Control Law enacted in 2003, all public institutions including schools started to strategic planning process.

6.TEACHING HOURS PER WEEK FOR TEACHERS

  • GREECE .18 h – 25h 
  • ITALY 18 h 
  • POLAND 18 h – 27h 
  • PORTUGAL 22h 
  • TURKEY 15h-30h 

7. MAX NUMBER OF STUDENTS PER CLASS 

  • GREECE .27
  • ITALY 27, 20 (if there are disabled students) 
  • POLAND 
  • PORTUGAL 30
  • TURKEY 30 

8 AVERAGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS PER CLASS 

  • GREECE .
  • ITALY 25
  • POLAND 25
  • PORTUGAL 22,8 (2013) 
  • TURKEY 30