Case Studies
Focusing on Women and Their ChildrenAÇEV was inspired by research completed in the 1980s about the status of preschool-aged children by Prof. Dr. Sevda Bekman, Prof. Dr. Çiǧdem Kaǧıtçıbaşı and Prof. Dr. Diane Sunar of Boǧaziçi University. The work revealed significant gaps in the education that preschool-aged children received in Turkey. One such program, the Mother Child Education Program is a home-based, preschool and parent education program that targets socio-economically disadvantaged mothers of six year olds. This program equips mothers with parenting skills and ensures that they are aware of the tools to support their children's cognitive abilities. Changing Hearts and MindsAyşen and Hüsnü recognize the importance of impacting public policy to achieve long-term social impact and have embarked on highly visible national campaigns. "Given the size of population in Turkey and limited resources, we decided to start working at the policy level too, conducting a media campaign and research," explains Ayla Göksel, the CEO of AÇEV.
Sevil Gümüş, an expert in Early Child Education in Turkey, says: "Because the child's cognitive, social, physical and emotional development takes place in the first six years, deficiency of education in these years cannot be treated later; it is almost impossible." And these early investments have longer-term payoffs. There is a return rate of seven Turkish lira for every one Turkish lira invested in early childhood education. Beyond these societal benefits, children who start school earlier tend to stay in school longer and perform better. Their educational TV programs have been a particular source of pride for AÇEV. "We developed a 60-episode program to teach literacy in the format of a daytime TV show for women with singing, dancing and stars. The program was watched by four million viewers per day. We found that women who watched the program gained basic literacy skills, and recently a group from Pakistan expressed interest in replicating this in their country," says Ayla.
|
Today, AÇEV's programs are implemented in numerous cities across Turkey to "empower and improve the quality of life" by focusing on its two primary areas of expertise: early childhood and adult education. The programs are delivered in face-to-face sessions or via educational programs on television. To expand its reach, the organization also develops materials for the internet. 
In cooperation with six other NGOs, AÇEV has supported the "7 is Too Late" campaign. Targeted at changing public policy around early childhood education, the campaign has developed recommendations aimed at increasing the number of children under the age of six that receive early childhood education. The campaign's name refers to the fact that in Turkey, the preschool enrollment for four to six year olds has hovered in the 20 to 25% range, according to a recent estimate. The campaign's focus is to lower the official age at which children need to start school and to make at least one year of preschool universally available.
