Private courses have become popular in 1970s. In time, these institutions have turned into favorite institu-tions for the transition to the higher education as the signs of inadequacy of education in public schools. As a result of the perception and widespread thought among people that the courses have inability for keeping up with the examination system in the transition to higher education, the question that “whether courses are alternatives to the public schools” has emerged and  it has led to education in schools to be considered as deficient and insignificant.

One of the reforms that the Ministry of National Education (MEB) has been attempting to realize in the education system since 2005 is to abolish private courses which are also considered as a scapegoat from time to time.  Here the aim of this research is to make a work which will prove the necessity of private courses through the opinions of the students who are common target group of both schools and private courses which have become an industry for economic and profit, while at the same time helping hundreds of thousands of students pass university exam. The research implies the necessity of private courses which have turned into economical and profit-oriented sector, while contributing thousands of students to pass SSPC (OSYM) and reveals the necessity of these institutions in accordance of opinions of students who are common target group of private courses.

Aims of research

The aim of this study is to describe 9, 10, 11, 12 grades and graduated students’ opinions about high school students' views on the necessity of private courses for accessing higher education. This research will put for-ward opinions of high school students who feel anxiety and excitement about the necessity of private courses in the transition to higher education, and it is crucial in terms of being a sample of Siirt province.

The main question in this research is that "What do high school students think regarding the necessity of private courses in the transition to higher education?”.  The answer to this question tried to find whether any changes occur according to the income, type of school, attending private courses, success in schools and grade levels.

The descriptive research method was applied for this purpose. Descriptive researches are used in order to reach participants’ general judgment about the universe consisting of many components, all or a sample which is representative (Karasar, 2003).  Both quantitative and qualitative interviews forms have been used as a data collection tool. Interview form consisted of three main parts. Demographic questions providing information about the participants were in the first part. Second part consisted of 8 multiple choice questions aimed to get students’ opinions about the necessity of private teaching institutions. Third part consisted of 2 open-ended questions aimed at taking opinions about necessity of private courses from participants. In this part the answers given to multiple choice questions, sincerity and reliability have been tested and tried to be ensured. It can be considered as a factor in ensuring the reliability of research data because of data collection tool consisting of both quantitative and qualitative structure. The population in this research included all high school students and graduated students from high schools in the center of Siirt. Random and easily accessible sampling was applied and referenced around 2000 students’ opinions. After eliminating the forms filled in missing and irrelevant, the remaining 1787 interview forms were used for the research. The number of participants included in sample has been determined to be at least 25% in order to represent the universe and a sample of Siirt. In addition to using the frequency, percentage and crosstabs test technique for the analysis of research data, the descriptive analysis for open-ended question was used (Table 1).

In the research, as a result of descriptive statistics and descriptive analysis made for open ended questions, it is come up with findings as follows.

High school students’ views on the necessity of private teaching institutions for accessing higher education

General views of high school students related to necessity of private teaching institutions in transition to higher education are in Table 2.

The table represents the findings related to the general opinion and thoughts of participants about private courses. It is stated that more than half of the students could not access any part of university without private courses. It has been stated that the number of students who think public school’s education is sufficient is 21.30% while the others who think public school’s education is not sufficient is 78.70%. Certain findings have been obtained on the question of the  necessity  of  attending private courses. 29.40% think they have to go private courses, 43.60% think subscribing is a must, 15.90% say that they can draw good marks without private courses and 5.50% say that they can participate in the university. The number of students thinking of taking private courses from tutors (if not private courses) is 23.60%; 76.40% do not agree. 32.70% think private courses provide equality of opportunity in the transition to higher education, others think that it disrupts the equality of opportunity (26.50%) and 40.9% do not specify their ideas. The number of students feeling necessity to attend private courses is 45.10%; on the other hand, 27.60% of participants do not feel such obligation.

Participants were told to choose three answers to the questions that describe private courses. "It meets the deficiency of lessons which I took in public school" is among the most chosen sentences with the reply of 63.90%, in the second row, with the percentage of 59.14 % "it contributes me with answering more questions in exams". In the third row with 38.22 %, “it provides me with practical problem solving skills." It is 18.41% who says that courses are loss of money for my family. These sentences express negativity about courses and 18.46% say that private courses are money trap. The sentences that ‘’private courses are loss of money for my family’’ stated by 18.41% and ‘’each private courses is a money trap ‘’ stated by 18.46% are among the sentences that express negation about private courses.

The high school students’ views on the necessity of private courses by school type variable

The findings on high school students’ opinions about type of school variance in accordance to necessity of private teaching institutions in transition to higher education are demonstrated in Table 3.

The correlation between type of schools and passing SSPC (OSYM) exam without attending private teaching institutions shows that half of the students in public high school, Anatolian High School and Science High School have the idea of getting to the department in universities which they set their minds on, while the other half of the students disagree with that idea. 58.7% of students who go on vocational and 62.3% students of other type of high schools agree that they cannot get into the department which they desire.

Most of the students (at least 70%) who go on general high school, Anatolian High School, vocational high school and other type of school assess education of public schools as not qualified in preparation to the transition to higher education.

Most of the students of public, Anatolian and vocational high schools except from other types of high schools think that they cannot participate in higher education with an  open admission system.

The research declares that 31.3% students of public high school, 22.7% students of Anatolian high school, 17.2% students of science high school, 39.2% students of vocational high school and 38.4% students of other type of school think that they have to attend private teaching institutions to go to higher education. In addition to that, 29.3% students of public high school, 50.2% students of Anatolian High School, 69% students of science high school and 32.5% students of other type of high schools think that they need to attend private courses in transition to higher education. According to the research, students who think that they can get into university without attending private courses are below 10%.

Majority of students who go on public, Anatolian, vocational and other type of schools agree that they would not have got tutors, if they had not attended private courses in transition to higher education.

37.4% students of general high school, 30.8% students of Anatolian High School, 44.8% students of science high school and 35.8 students of vocational high schools have the idea that private courses provide equality of opportunity in transition to higher education. The idea that private courses disrupt the equality of opportunity is observed mostly in Anatolian High School (30.8%); on the other hand, very little percentage of students of other type of school agree. Students who do not state their opinion are found to be close to 40% in all types of schools.

The research claims that 36.4% students of public high school, 44.7% students of Anatolian High School, 55.2% students of science high school, 48.5% students of vocational high school and 43.3% students of other types of high schools speak with a single voice that private courses are a vital need. On the contrary, 44.4% students of public high school, 27% students of Anatolian High School, 23.1% students of vocational high school and 30.2% students  of  other  types  of  high  schools  do  not agree that it is a vital need.

The high school students’ views on the necessity of private courses by income variable

The findings on high school students’ opinions upon income variance in accordance with necessity of private teaching institutions to go to higher education are demonstrated and relevant explanations are made in the Table 4.

More than half of the participants (55%) who come from low and middle income families agree with that they cannot participate in university department which they are eager to part in without attending private courses; on the other hand, 56.6% students who come from high income families think that they can participate in university departments which they consider without attending private courses.

Great deal of students (at least 72%) coming from low and middle income families and 56.6% of students com-ing from high income families think that that the education offered to them in schools is not enough.

Two-thirds of students coming from high-income families assume that they can enter university they want with-out central exam system, whereas 45% of students from low and medium income families assume that they can enter university they want without central exam system

All income levels around one-third (28%-30%) of students think that have to go private courses, around 40% of students think of the need of going to private courses. Do only 4-5% of students think they can be accepted to university even if they do not go to private courses.

If a great majority of the students (at least 78.8%) coming from low and medium income families do not go to private education institutions, they would not be able to take courses from private teachers.

At income levels one-third of students express that private education institutions provide equal opportunity, but 37.4% of students coming from low-income families, 24.6% of students coming from medium-income families and 28.9% of students coming from high income families think that courses do not provide equal opportunity for admission to higher education. 35% of the students in all income levels do not have any opinion.

All income levels around 45% of students think that courses arise out of necessity to be accepted into the university but 30% of students coming from high-income families think that courses do not arise out of necessity. 36% of students coming from low and medium income families and 20% of students coming from high income families do not express any attitudes toward this question. 

Findings on the necessity of private courses according to high school students

The findings on high school students’ opinions about Necessity of private teaching institutions are demonstrated with frequencies and percentages in Table 5.

According to participants’ reasons why they think courses are requirement is that courses compensate for the lack of lessons in school, the lack of adequate training at school, provide prac-tice questions, the lack of appropriate education at school, to score better in exams. Also, there are some other reasons such as "courses" providing equal opportunity against private school and college, winning the exam of passing the higher education and license exam, providing support to school lessons, repetition of lessons in school. In this study, out of 1787 participating students, 1705 of them tried to explain their reasons why they should go to private courses.

Findings on the unnecessity of private education institutions according to high school students

Out of 1787 students, just 233 of them give answers to the question of "it is unnecessary to go for private courses because ................ The findings about the reasons of students thinking courses as being unnecessary are given in Table 6.

The reasons most often cited from high school students are such as courses breaking the equal opportunity " entering the university without the courses if  the desire to score better in exams is present", "everyone's financial means may not be sufficient", " thinking of private courses as a money trap".

Furthermore, "education given in school being sufficient in the transition to higher education and regarding courses" as a loss of time are some of the findings about private courses.

More than half of the high school students do not think entering the university department they want without private courses, the majority of high school students do not regard education given in school sufficient but one-fifth of students regard it as enough.  A great majority of students have to go to schools or think of the necessity of going private courses but very few of them think that they can enter the university without education institution in transition to higher education.

The number of students is low who think of taking private lessons from tutor in case of not going education institutions, whereas the number of students thinking of not taking private lessons is very high. The rate of those thinking that private courses provide equal opportunity in transition to higher education is much more than those thinking that private courses do not provide equal opportunity and the number of students not stating their opinions is much more than both of these two groups. The number of students thinking courses arise out of necessity is nearly half of the all participating students and the number of students thinking courses do not arise out of necessity requirements is low.

The students were asked to select three sentences about private courses. The most chosen sentence is that "private courses close the gap of the school courses deficiency, secondly private courses provide solving a lot of questions and, thirdly private courses provide practical problem solving skills. Students say some sentences stating negative meanings which are "private courses are just money trap for my family’’.

It can be said that students in vocational high schools and other types of schools assume themselves as much more depended on private courses while preparing for university exams.

More than half of the science high school students think they can enter the university without private education institutions.

It can be explained why students have the perception of the necessity of courses with the result of the rate around 27% in Anatolian and science high schools and most of the students in general high school,  vocational high school and the other types of school do not regard school education as enough for exams.

In all types of schools, most of the students think that they have to go to private courses or it is necessary to go private courses. It can be explained that the idea of going to private courses is placed on students’ mind clearly as a result of the number of students under 10% thinking of entering the university without going to private courses. Most of the students in all types of schools think of not taking any lessons from private teacher if they do not go to private courses. Likewise, around one-third of students in all types of school think that private courses provide equal opportunity and the rate of students thinking private courses do not provide equality is less and it is around 40% who do not  state their opinions in all types of schools. More than half of the science high school students, around half of the Anatolian High School ,vocational high school students and any other kind of school students and one-third of public high school students think that private courses arise from out of necessity. Students who think private courses do not arise out of necessity are lower in all types of schools. As a result of this,  it can be said that the thought of going to private courses as necessity does not change whichever types of schools students are.

More than half of the students coming from low-income and medium-income families do not think of entering the university without private courses, but more than half of the students coming from high-income families think they can enter the university they want without private courses. As a result of this, it can be concluded that the students coming from high-income levels have the opportunity of going to university, nevertheless the students coming from low and medium-income families have disadvantage of it.

It can be said that although most of the students coming from low and middle-income families think that school education is insufficient, this rate decreases in the students coming from high-income families.

Although around 45% of students coming from low and medium-income families think of entering the university without an exam system, it is around 66% for students coming from high-income families.

As a result of this idea, it can be said that income level is an important factor in the transition to higher education without exam system.

Around one-third of students in all income levels think that they have to go private courses, around 40% of them have the idea of the necessity of going to private courses and in all income levels that the number of students thinking of entering the university without going to private courses is very low.

Whatever students families’ income levels are, they think that they should go to these institutions in preparation to higher education.

Most of the students (77%) coming from low and medium-income levels and around more than half of the students coming from high-income levels think of not taking any lessons from tutor. As a result of this, the idea of private teacher is not current solution and children of high income families have not been thinking of taking private tutoring. According to a study conducted by Tansel and Bircan (2005), parents’ education level and income level increase  the  possibility  of  students  taking private lessons. In a study conducted by Nartgün et al. (2012), students do not think of taking private lessons in absence of private courses; these institutions provide advantage to students being economically better; the fees paid to these institutions cause heavy burden on family budgets.          

Around one-third of students in all income levels think that courses provide equal opportunity, around one-third do not think they provide equal opportunity and the others  do not state any idea about it. As a result of this, the perception of providing and not providing equal opportunity can be changed according to the different factors.

Although around half of the students in all income levels think courses arise out of necessity, around one-third of them do not think courses arise out of necessity. In a study conducted by Köse, he concludes that families tend to send their children to these institutions in line with their economic power.

In a study, two gap- filling questions were asked to students to support quantitative findings with two open-ended questions to find out whether they are sincere with their ideas. First question is formed as " I think courses are a necessity. Because ........”.  1705 students completed the blanks. The responses given by students are categorized in common themes;  as a result of this,  the most chosen categories are selected about some ideas on why these institutions are necessary.

The most chosen themes  regarding these institutions as necessary are " closing deficiency of lessons in schools", schools education is not being sufficient, "providing  opportunities for solving practice questions and education given in schools not being suitable for exams’’. One of the main questions in the interview form is the question of " Do you think that the education given at schools is enough in transition to higher education”. Most of the students’ negative answers with given reasons complement with each other. Furthermore, some reasons such as "providing equal opportunity against private school" and "college" providing  passing YGS (the exam of passing to higher education) and LYS (the exam of placement to higher education ), providing support for the  lessons given in school , uncared teachers in school and providing repetition to the lessons given in schools’ are given regarding  necessities of these institutions.

Findings obtained from multiple-choice questions in interview forms and open-ended questions being supporting each other can be accepted as an important result for reliability of the study.

There can be stated some reasons why interests increase for these institutions and students think courses as necessity in transition to higher education such as being a system based on competition and exam in transition school grades, schools having different quality and structures, students trying to get best quality and students’ desire to have superior status with the diploma given by schools.

A lot of studies made in the  past  have  reached  some findings supporting this research. For example, in a study by ?irin (2000), students think lessons given in school are not sufficient in transition to higher education; they are bad at developing test techniques for the lessons and regard institutions as necessary for entering the university. In a study by Morgil et al. (2001), as a result of this statistical analysis, the achievement was found to have increased following the private education. The other major findings are that there was a statistically significant relationship between pilot exams (ÖSS-AD and ÖSS-D) and Student Selection Exam (ÖSS).

Some findings in study by Turan and Alaz (2007) indicate that students go to private institutions in order to be successful in the exam, to get information about things used in life and to support the lessons they take in schools.

Besides, Cenk (2005) find that students who go to private institutions and prepare to enter the exam think that these institutions are indispensable in order to learn the techniques of exams; also students say that guiding service helps them with anything.

In a study conducted by Baran and Altun (2014), the reason given by students on why they go to private institutions is that they want to pass the central exams and be successful in school courses. Again, Ayvac? and Nas (2009) find that 58% of the students have favorable opinion on private courses for being successful in SBS exam.

"I don’t need to go to the private courses. Because;......................................." This view was observed only in 233 written responses that give reasons on the redundancy of private courses; some of the responses are: "The private courses impair equal opportunity", "If there is the desire and purpose of going to school, it can be achieved without the private courses", "Everyone's financial means cannot be enough for private courses" and "Private courses are money traps". Besides, "Education in school is seen adequate for accessing higher education" and "The private courses are waste of time” are the some of the findings that the participants express regarding private institutions. So, it can be said that they think private courses have disadvantages although these are seen as supporting institutions. A research that will support this finding is done by Day?o?lu and Türüt-A??k (2007). That research concludes that the money which is necessary for private courses is too much and, it is very unlikely that students from medium and low income families can go to the private courses and prestigious universities.

Ba?ol and Zabun (2014) conclude that there is a difference in favor of students who go to private courses according to sixth and seventh grade students’ SBS scores.

Thinking of private courses as a "money trap" may be explained by the commercial aspect. Depending on the socio- economic environment, city, district and student-parent acceptability where those private education institutions are located in, fees that vary from place to place and also in some regions astronomical charging is in indisputable fact. Some of students adopt a negative attitude towards private courses. It may be explained by such facts.

According to the findings by Ba?türk and Do?an (2010), high school teachers accept a number of advantages private education institutions have in preparing students for university entrance exam; but they are also quite uncomfortable with these institutions for using education for their commercial concerns. In a study by Da?l? (2006), fees of these institutions bring serious cost as stated by parents of students.

In the light of these findings, the following recommendations can be made:

1. As a result of highly competitive education system, private courses have been operating, where test-oriented courses are offered to prepare students for central university exam. These institutions came into existence as a need for students and should be taken into account in any future education plans.

2. As many survey results clearly show, majority of high school students finds the education system given at school insufficient in preparing them to higher education. In order to prevent the private courses to be seen as an alternative to schools, the reasons needs to be explored why students have negative attitudes toward schools and alternative ways of improving the quality of education in schools should be discussed.

3. Especially high schools, vocational high schools’ teaching structures are disadvantageous in terms of preparing students for higher education, entrance exam; they should be improved regarding their quality and course structures.

4. In order to remove the need for private institutions, our education system should be focus less on competitive and exam-based structure. Every student should choose courses according to their own ability and intelligence areas so that a scientific and realistic education model can be developed.

5. As a result of competitive and exam-based education system which makes it difficult for students to enter university, it would be impossible to prevent illegal private courses if legal ones are to be banned.

6. A more human approach which pays attention to human values should be expanded from bottom to top in our education system.

7. As long as gaps exist between occupations regarding both living standards and social status, families will keep sending their children to those private courses to provide them the best job for earning more income.

8. In an economic system which provides all citizens with a reasonable standard of living, private courses are to be expected to disappear over time.

9. Any legal plan about private education institutions where thousands of people are employed should be done bearing in mind concerns of owners of these institutions and those of  teachers who are at risk of losing their jobs and of being unemployed.

The author has not declared any conflict of interests.