SIXTH ANNUAL PATRICIA BLUNT KOLDYKE LECTURE

TURKISH EDUCATION:

INNOVATION AND PARTICIPATION

Batuhan Aydagül, Coordinator and Board Member, Education Reform Initiative

Access to primary and secondary education in Turkey has dramatically increased over the last decade. Yet, only sixteen percent of fifteen year-olds in Turkey have test scores in reading, math, and science that are comparable to or above the OECD average, and Turkey’s education system ranks 32nd among 34 countries. Batuhan Aydagül, the sixth annual Patricia Blunt Koldyke Fellow, is leading the reform effort to ensure that Turkish students have access to quality and equitable education. Join The Chicago Council on Global Affairs to hear Aydagül share his challenges and successes advocating for innovative reforms for Turkey’s students.

Batuhan Aydagül is the coordinator and board member of the Education Reform Initiative (ERI) and a member of the Advisory Board at the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) in Istanbul, Turkey. Aydagül works as the lead policy analyst at ERI, which was launched in 2003 within Sabancı University with the goal of improving policies that ensure access to quality education for all children and to ensure that policy processes are participatory, innovative, rational, and transparent. He played a key role in the emergence and development of the Annual Best Practices Conferences in Turkey. From 2007 to 2008, Aydagül was seconded to the Ministry of Education in Liberia to support education reform there. He received a master’s degree in international education administration and policy analysis from Stanford University.

The Chicago Council’s Patricia Blunt Koldyke Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship is funded by the Koldyke family to recognize to recognize emerging international leaders who are transforming society through innovative solutions to pressing global challenges – particularly those related to children. This year, the selection committee focused on education policy in Turkey.