Abstract:

During the Ak Party era since 2003, the neo-liberal and reformist approach to policies emerged in education, similar to every realm of policymaking in Turkey. Besides, membership and harmonisation to the European Union processes has accelerated education policy reforms shaped around similar concerns, specifically in orientation to a knowledge-based society comprising curriculum reforms and education programs. Such education programs and education initiatives aim to reach equality and quality in education. Developments around those initiatives grew upon both the EU regulations and AK Party’s political approach cultivated several reform attempts. Thus, they intersected in many policy aims, such as the use of technology in public education. There are several projects in past 20 years. One of those projects is the FATIH project which supports students and the teaching practices by instructing smart devices at public schools. It is a significant example of the AK Party’s agenda to use technology and to follow global trends. This project was shared with the public in November 2010. This was just before the war in Syria near south-eastern Turkish borders.

As Syrian refugees had started entering Turkey in 2011, the trend in education policy making gradually verged to thise refugees’ education and adaptation.
It was initially seen as a temporary crisis by Turkish authorities. However, with the rapid refugee influx, a serious concern about a need for the new and lasting regulations for the refugees’ education raised. According to the reports, there is now over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and nearly half of this population are in school age.

This paper raises the question about this sharp move and how such change affected Turkish education reforms’ focus. Namely, moving from reforms focusing on the quality of education and use of technology towards managing the emergency situation and saving as much as lives possible.
Studying on both cases, the hypothesis will be examined via focusing on the failure of FATIH project.

Keywords:

Education reform, technology, refugee education, policy.