With the new Education Vision 2023 the Turkish Government believes it is sowing the seeds of the country's future success. Whether this success will materialise depends first and foremost on effective implementation but also on other factors and issues related to human capital. It is clear that the topics presented in this report play an important role. If skills supply is not sufficient, or even shrinking, the economy will suffer or not develop as it could. If skills mismatches become severe or persist for too long, the country will fail to utilise its human capital and its economic potential will not be realised. And if this is combined with limited opportunities for adult upskilling and reskilling, then human capital development and use in Turkey may become caught in a vicious circle.

This ETF assessment has provided an overview and analysis of selected challenges regarding human capital development and use in Turkey and offered recommendations on how education and training can contribute to their resolution.

The assessment has acknowledged the substantial progress Turkey has made in human capital development, especially with regarding access to primary, secondary and tertiary education, and including the integration of a huge number of young refugees into the education system. As a key player in human capital development, the Ministry of National Education has triggered a number of ambitious reforms, some of which are still ongoing and appear promising. These include the two critical areas of improving participation in both initial VET and in adult learning, which were selected as a particular focus of this assessment. Despite the progress achieved, substantial challenges remain in both areas and need to be addressed immediately if Turkey is to succeed in its ambitious economic and social policy goals for the next decade.

The analysis in this report concluded with a number of recommendations for tackling these challenges with a view to strengthening the contribution of education and training to human capital development in the country. A summary of the key recommendations can be found in Annex 1. It is hoped that these will be useful for Turkey in the implementation of its Education Vision 2023, as well as in planning future EU and other donor projects.