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PIONEERING NON-PROFIT SCHOOLS IN TURKEY
USE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION TO CONNECT
STUDENTS TO WORLD
Burcu Benderli, Manager for Turkey, Benelux, Switzerland
& Wider Europe, was in Ankara recently visiting Bilkent
Laboratory and International School (BLIS), which is
a part of the Ihsan Doğramacı Foundation and also
connected to Bilkent University – the first private and
non-profit university in Turkey, Bilkent. The school is
on course to become the first Cambridge PDQ center in
Turkey.
The President of the Foundation is Professor Ali
Doğramacı – son of the late Professor Ihsan Doğramacı,
founder of Bilkent University. Burcu spoke to him about
his school’s work and mission, and how the Cambridge
curriculum is supporting their
ambitions to offer an international
education.
Tell us about Bilkent’s education
foundation
We are linked to Bilkent University,
which was established not only to
provide an environment for learning
and intellectual growth, but to serve
human welfare and foster peace on
earth. Our K12 schools are designed
to prepare the students for higher
education with those values at the
forefront of our mission. And all Bilkent schools (BLIS,
Bilkent Erzurum and Bilkent Erbil) have always been, and
will continue to be, truly non-profit institutions.
We encourage students to be participative and
constructive individuals and critical thinkers, so that
they will be able to take full advantage of university
training whether in their own country or elsewhere. In
addition to this, compulsory international exams such as
the Cambridge IGCSE enable us to assess our students
with respect to world-class standards.
Was the choice of Cambridge IGCSE linked to a
requirement to strengthen students’ English language
skills?
English is used as the medium of instruction in all our
schools, as it serves as a connection to the world more
than any other language. Language is a most important
prerequisite for international peace and understanding.
Our students need to master the language of their own
country as well as at least one language which connects
THE CLAPPER 2015 - 2016
them to the rest of the world. Bilkent students learn to
speak and think in different languages in order to be able
to express their thoughts effectively and understand
how others think.
What is the value of giving students a summative test
at the age of 16?
It gives student, the parents and the academic counsellor
a basis for deciding or recommending how the student
should proceed in their studies. In Bilkent Laboratory
& International School Ankara as well as in Bilkent
Laboratory School Erzurum, Cambridge IGCSE is used
as a prerequisite to advance to the
last two years of these high schools.
We use Cambridge IGCSE to assess
whether the students are ready for
the rigor in the remaining two years
of the high school where they will
prepare for leading universities of
the world.
Cambridge IGCSEs also serve as an
external benchmark by which to
judge the value of the education
provided, and the standing of one
school’s students as compared
with students in other schools and
countries using the same programs and qualifications.
What do you see as the opportunities for international
education in Turkey in the future?
People in Turkey are striving to better connect to the rest
of the world, in all areas including academics, business
and trade, and politics. International understanding is
a necessary condition for people in Turkey to succeed
in these aims. Therefore the demand for international
education is likely to increase several fold.
Many of our students want to go abroad to study,
and since Turkish education at any level can often be
unfamiliar to other countries’ educators, standardized
qualifications would be useful for evaluation by a
receiving institution.
Cambridge qualifications can also strengthen language
learning in countries where there is much room for
improvement in foreign language teaching in the schools.
Retrieved from www.cie.org.uk 29 Apr 2016