Turkey's Education Ministry Revises Extra Lesson Rules for Teachers

The Ministry of National Education issued new guidance clarifying how extra "preparation and planning" lessons are calculated for teachers in Turkey. Under the rule, one extra hour is recorded for every ten hours of actual teaching, and the weekly two‑hour Student Social and Personality Services (guidance/club) lesson is excluded from this calculation. Incorrectly adding guidance hours can lead to improper payments and public loss. Teachers are advised to verify that only their actual teaching hours are reflected when signing the extra‑lesson schedule.

A separate amendment, published in the Official Gazette, expands the Early Intervention Education Program (İYEP) to include second‑grade classes and creates additional extra‑lesson opportunities for class teachers. The program targets students who fall below minimum proficiency in Turkish and mathematics, offering up to 160 extra‑lesson hours per year in small groups of no more than ten pupils. The change aims to boost teachers' earnings and address early learning gaps.