ICEF, the event and networking company, is to support the education of girls in Turkey in a bid to give back to one of international education’s key recruitment markets.
The company will fund scholarships for three girls to complete high school in rural Turkey, where literacy and educational attainment remains low. It is also calling on ICEF members, many of which recruit from Turkey, to contribute to the project.
“Turkey takes a leading position in sending students abroad, and a significant number of Turkish institutions have opened up to the international market,” ICEF said in a statement.
“But although this country already produces large numbers of highly motivated and capable students, many of which go on to study abroad successfully… [it] still harbours millions of disadvantaged young people, particularly girls, who desire and deserve an education – a massive untapped potential and a global responsibility.”
According to research, 34% of Turkish girls do not attend high school and about 13% of females are illiterate – twice as many as males. Many Turkish girls cannot afford to go to school and are expected to stay at home and contribute to the family income. As well as supporting a year’s schooling, the scholarships will compensate the girls’ families for their lack of earnings.
The project is part of ICEF’s Education Fund, an initiative which supports area’s of the world with low education access. ICEF will fund the scholarships through the non-governmental organisation Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi (CYDD), which has enlisted the support of donors to provide scholarships to more than 50,000 girls over the last 20 years.