Turkey's brain drain problem deepens with high school graduates

The students graduated from Turkey's leading high schools have been increasingly preferring to study abroad for “better education” and “their desire for freedom,” according to reporting from the weekly Gazete Oksijen.

Sunday January 21 2024 05:39 pm

Duvar English

The number of students who graduate from Turkey's leading high schools and prefer universities abroad has been increasing, the weekly Gazete Oksijen reported on Jan. 19.

122 of the 124 students who graduated from the German High School, 133 of the 166 students who graduated from the Istanbul Erkek High School, and 74 of the 75 graduates of the Austrian High School chose to study in universities abroad last year.

Moreover, 62 percent of Robert College graduates and 35 percent of Galatasaray High School graduates went abroad after graduating. In Galatasaray, this rate was 3.3 percent in 2020.

Galatasaray High School Principal Professor Reşat Dabak said, the students who preferred to study abroad “think they will receive a better education, and their desire for freedom is also effective.”

As the Turkish government cracks down on dissent, coupled with a deteriorating economy, more and more young people are seeking new lives abroad.

Polls conducted in recent years indicate the Turkish youth are increasingly unhappy to live in the country, saying that they have lost hope in the future of their country.

In recent years, Turkey has been witnessing an increase in its number of emigrants, with migration becoming an exit strategy for the youth from everyday struggles.