Preschool education to be compulsory in Turkey by 2019

Preschool education for children aged 54-month or above will be made compulsory by 2019.

According to Ministry of National Education statement, children will be required to attend preschool, for at least a year, prior to starting elementary school.

Under the scope of the Medium Term Education Program, which includes the 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 academic years, preschool education will be compulsory, and children will automatically be enrolled to schools, even if, their parents did not wish to.

The Ministry has sent notifications to provincial directorates of national education, urging them to enroll children to preschools, closest to their respective addresses, via the "e-okul" (e-school) system.