ECONOMIC GROWTH CENTER

                       YALE UNIVERSITY

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                     27 Hillhouse Avenue
                   New Haven, CT 06520-8269





               CENTER DISCUSSION PAPER NO.  789




             DETERMINANTS OF SCHOOL ATTAINMENT OF
                   BOYS AND GIRLS IN TURKEY




                         Aysit Tansel

               Middle East Technical University





                          April 1998







Note: Center Discussion Papers are preliminary materials circulated to
      stimulate discussion and critical comments. Dr. Tansel is a postdoctoral
      fellow at the Economic Growth Center at Yale University and Professor
      at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.  This is a
      revised version of the paper originally written in February 1997.



      Determinants of School Attainment of Boys and Girls in Turkey

                               by
                          Aysit Tansel
                    Department of Economics
                Middle East Technical University
                      06531 Ankara Turkey
                  Telephone: 90-312-210 20 57
                     Fax: 90-312-210 12 44
             E-mail: atansel@rorqual.cc.metu.edu.tr

                      Revised, April 1998

Abstract:

This study investigates the determinants of school attainments of boys and
girls in Turkey.  Although high levels of enrollments have been achieved at
the primary school level for both boys and girls in much of Turkey, substan-
tial regional differences remain.  In particular, in the Southeastern region,
girls begin to drop out of school around the third grade.  Only half of the
primary school graduates register at the middle level.  Thus, the purpose of
this study is to examine the determinants of educational attainments at the
primary, middle and high school levels.  Attainments of boys and girls are
examined separately so as to shed light on the causes for the significantly
lower level of attainment for girls.  Understanding the constraints causing
the large gender gap in Turkish education and the covariates related to lower
overall educational levels may be useful to policy makers and planners.

Key Words:  School attainments; gender; Turkey

JEL Codes:  I21; J16