Textbooks in private schools will be free: Parents will no longer pay fees!

The Ministry is placing textbooks, rather than supplementary books or other resources, at the center of educational activities for students. For this reason, a series of new regulations have been introduced in the legislation regarding textbooks to be used in private schools, just as in public schools. With the regulatory amendment first made by the Ministry last year, it was made mandatory for all private schools to use Ministry-approved free textbooks starting from the 2024-2025 academic year.

ANOTHER NEW ARTICLE ADDED

Following this regulation, a new article regarding the subject was added to the Regulation on Amendments to the Ministry of National Education Private Education Institutions Regulation, which was published in the Official Gazette dated January 3, 2025.

NO FEES CAN BE CHARGED UNDER THE NAME OF "TEXTBOOK"

In line with the new provision added to the legislation, private schools will not be able to charge any fees from parents under the name of "textbook".

The aim is to prevent incorrect learning through books that have not passed Ministry inspection.

The new regulation is based on the principle of distributing Ministry of National Education-approved textbooks free of charge at all educational levels.

The most important purpose of this innovation in the legislation is to prevent incorrect and inappropriate learning through books that have not passed Ministry inspection.

In this context, while the curriculum prepared by Ministry units and approved by the Board of Education and Discipline is applied in public and private schools in Turkey, textbooks are also written in accordance with this and are used subject to approval. During this approval process, every textbook that reaches students undergoes a rigorous review process by the Ministry.

MEB-APPROVED TEXTBOOKS WILL BE THE GUIDE

Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin had made statements emphasizing that the Ministry of National Education's curriculum and Ministry-approved textbooks are taken as a guide in the preparation of central exam questions.

In line with Minister Tekin's statements, it is among the goals of the new regulation that the textbooks prepared by the Ministry serve as a source for all questions to be asked in central exams such as the High School Transition System (LGS) exam, the Higher Education Institutions Examination (YKS) conducted by ÖSYM, and common exams.

On the other hand, another goal is to prevent parents with children attending private schools from facing economic hardship due to different textbooks.

WHETHER FEES ARE CHARGED FOR "TEXTBOOKS" WILL BE INSPECTED

On the other hand, as required by the legislation, the founders, founder representatives, and principals of private schools have various responsibilities regarding "the use of Ministry-approved textbooks in lessons" and "not requesting fees for textbooks."

Private schools, which are already subject to inspection regarding whether the textbooks used in classrooms from the 2024-2025 academic year onwards are the books distributed free of charge by the Ministry, will also be inspected from the next term onwards regarding whether fees are requested from parents for "textbooks."

PENAL SANCTIONS MAY BE APPLIED

The Ministry of National Education will continue to send textbooks free of charge to all private schools, equal to the number of students, in the next academic year, regardless of whether they are requested or not.

Penal sanctions included in Article 7 of the Law on Private Education Institutions may be applied to private schools that do not use the textbooks distributed free of charge by the Ministry or that request fees from parents under the name of "textbook."

This article provides for a graduated penal sanction that can go up to an administrative fine of 20 times the gross minimum wage and the cancellation of the institution's opening permit and operating license in case of repetition of the act in question.