An Investigation of the Adequacies of the Modular Non-Formal Education Programs Run at the Public Training Centers in Turkey

Abstract

Nowadays, technology is developing and changing very rapidly. It is necessary to raise qualified workforce in order to follow this changing technology. Thus, “non-formal education” becomes as important as formal education. In Turkey, Non-Formal Education is mainly carried out by Public Training Centers (PTC) of Ministry of National Education (MONE). For these institutions to achieve their targets, it is necessary to determine the adequacies of the existing modular non-formal education programs. Hence, the purpose of this study is to reveal the adequacies of the modular non-formal education programs executed at the PTCs operating under the MONE. The sample space of this research is made up of administrators, teachers/ master trainers and students of PTC’s of 2006-2007 school year. A total of 150 administrators, 350 teachers/master trainers and 3500 students are included in the survey who were distributed to the selected provinces based on their relative population sizes. As a result of this study, important information has been collected regarding the adequacies of the programs applied at the PTCs. The results of our questionnaires indicate that except for some issues in general modular programs are quite adequate. In some programs, some improvements are needed especially related to the durations of the programs and the physical environments. As a result of the findings, the necessary policies must be developed to deal with the issues determined as not very satisfactory and to make necessary revisions on the programs based on the results.