Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about education policy in various countries around the world.
Turkey’s education system became fodder for international news stories this summer after authorities announced they would no longer teach Darwin’s theory of evolution in high school. The move takes place in the context of a dramatic expansion of religious education under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In an email interview, Dr. Lisel Hintz, assistant professor in the European and Eurasian Studies Program at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, explains how education has been used as a tool in various governments’ efforts to shape Turkish identity.
WPR: What is the current state of Turkey’s education system, and are the problems it faces new or longstanding?