The child's cognitive, social, physical and emotional development is almost completed within the first 6 years of life. Compensating for a lack of education and stimulation within these years, later on in life, is almost impossible.
Children who do not have access to preschool education have an increased likelihood of being unsuccessful at school, of dropping out and of experiencing social adaptation problems later on in life.
Children who live in disadvantaged socio-economic conditions are already at high risk developmentally. Unfortunately, only 32% of preschool aged (for 5-6 age groups) children have access to preschool education in Turkey. Although these children are those most in need of support early on in life, they have the least access to early childhood education. It is therefore most important that these children be provided with a chance to have a 'fair start' in life by being given equal opportunity to access preschool education.

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Mothers and fathers—as a child's first educators in the home—play a crucial role in their child's development.
Parents may need support in the area of child development and education to contribute to their child's development.
But if we take a look at the general education portrait of Turkey, we see that the need for support and education goes beyond parent training. In Turkey, while the average number of years spent in formal education is less time than 6 years, there are still over 7,000,000 individuals who cannot even read or write their own names. It is therefore very difficult to focus solely on early childhood education in a context in which millions of adults (mostly women and mothers) are unable to express themselves effectively and who have had little or no formal education.
For this reason, AÇEV also focuses on and trains parents and teachers--those who comprise the child's immediate environment--and aims to empower them in their roles as educators.

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AÇEV is grateful to Ara Güler for these photos.