Education · Data
Turkey 2025-2026: 17.7 Million Students, 1.2 Million Teachers, MEB Data Shows
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In brief
Turkey's Ministry of National Education (MEB) reported 17,704,308 students and 1,211,799 teachers in formal education for the 2025-2026 school year, published October 1, 2026. The country counted 75,012 schools and 769,933 classrooms, with enrollment split between 15.2 million public-school students and 1.5 million private-school students.
Turkey's Ministry of National Education (Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, MEB) released its annual formal-education statistics for the 2025-2026 academic year on October 1, 2026. According to the ministry's General Directorate of Strategy Development, 17,704,308 students were enrolled in formal education nationwide, taught by 1,211,799 teachers.
Students by level and gender
Of the total student body, 9,089,093 were male and 8,615,215 were female, MEB figures show. Enrollment was distributed across preschool (1,739,723), primary school (5,408,899), middle school (5,307,934) and secondary/high school (5,247,752), according to the ministry's data, also reported by Hürriyet.
Within secondary education, general high schools accounted for 3,046,666 students, vocational and technical high schools for 1,736,473, and Imam Hatip high schools for 464,613, MEB said. Vocational and technical high schools' share of secondary enrollment rose compared with the previous year, reaching 39.51%, according to the ministry's figures cited by Hürriyet.
Public versus private, schools and classrooms
Public institutions enrolled 15,167,794 students, private institutions 1,485,021, and open (distance) education 1,051,493, per the ministry's figures. The country had 75,012 schools in total — 59,914 public and 15,094 private, plus four open-education units — and 769,933 classrooms, split between 631,736 in public schools and 138,197 in private schools, MEB reported.
Teachers and class ratios
Of the 1,211,799 teachers counted, 1,067,218 worked in public institutions and 144,581 in private institutions, according to MEB's published statistics. MEB's data further showed that 1,170,320 of these teachers were assigned directly to formal-education institutions, with the remainder in non-formal education and other units, bringing the overall total to 1,211,799.
The ministry reported a student-to-teacher ratio of 17 to 1 in primary schools, 13 to 1 in middle schools, and 12 to 1 in secondary schools. MEB additionally reported student-to-classroom ratios of 19 to 1 in primary, 25 to 1 in middle school, and 21 to 1 in secondary school.
Enrollment rates and support services
Net enrollment rates reported by MEB stood at 84.14% for five-year-olds in preschool, 98.46% for the 6-9 primary-school age group, 98.16% for the 10-13 middle-school age group, and 87.09% for the 14-17 secondary-school age group.
The ministry also reported that 345,112 students received scholarships, 765,728 used school transportation services, and roughly 500,000 students stayed in 2,852 boarding facilities nationwide, according to the figures cited by Hürriyet.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total students | 17,704,308 |
| Male / Female students | 9,089,093 / 8,615,215 |
| Public / Private / Open-education students | 15,167,794 / 1,485,021 / 1,051,493 |
| Preschool students | 1,739,723 |
| Primary students | 5,408,899 |
| Middle school students | 5,307,934 |
| Secondary (high school) students | 5,247,752 |
| - General high school | 3,046,666 |
| - Vocational/technical high school | 1,736,473 |
| - Imam Hatip high school | 464,613 |
| Total teachers | 1,211,799 |
| - Public institutions | 1,067,218 |
| - Private institutions | 144,581 |
| Total schools | 75,012 |
| Total classrooms | 769,933 |
| Student-teacher ratio (primary/middle/secondary) | 17:1 / 13:1 / 12:1 |
Questions
- How many students were enrolled in Turkey's formal education in 2025-2026?
- 17,704,308 students, according to the Ministry of National Education's statistics published October 1, 2026.
- How many teachers does Turkey have in the 2025-2026 school year?
- 1,211,799 teachers in total, with 1,067,218 in public institutions and 144,581 in private institutions, per MEB data.
- What is the student-to-teacher ratio in Turkish schools?
- MEB reported ratios of 17 students per teacher in primary school, 13 in middle school, and 12 in secondary school.
- How many schools are there in Turkey?
- 75,012 schools in total — 59,914 public, 15,094 private and four open-education units, according to the ministry.
- What share of students attend private schools in Turkey?
- 1,485,021 students attended private institutions out of 17,704,308 total, with the remainder in public (15,167,794) and open education (1,051,493), per MEB figures.
How the world is telling it
- TurkishTurkish outlets such as Hürriyet framed the release as the ministry's annual snapshot of the schooling system, emphasizing growth in vocational/technical education's share and citing the exact MEB figures without added commentary.
Sources
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