History - AÇEV - Mother Child Education Foundation

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Our scientific programs became successful models of the partnership between universities and governmental and non-governmental organizations in Turkey and set an example for new education policies.

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AÇEV started its activities in 1993 under the leadership of its Founding President Ayşen Özyeğin.

Boğaziçi University professors Dr. Sevda Bekman, Dr. Çiğdem Kağıtçıbaşı and Dr. Diane Sunar’s comprehensive study on preschool education from 1982 to 1986 showed that early childhood education in Turkey was deeply inadequate, with a majority of children having no access to education in early years.

To address this problem, they developed an alternative home-based preschool education program called the Mother Child Education Program (MOCEP), which was first implemented as part of the research. In 1993, after AÇEV’s current chair Ayşen Özyeğin joined the team, the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) was founded to further develop, promote, and scale-up MOCEP, a mission it maintains today.

AÇEV’S MILESTONES

1993

Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) is officially founded, opening its first office in İstanbul. It begins to implement the 25-week Mother Child Education Program (MOCEF) in collaboration with Turkey’s Ministry of National Education.

Now focused on mother’s needs, AÇEV begins developing an adult literacy program and signs a protocol to partner with Turkey’s Ministry of National Education in its implementation.

1994

1995

Implementation of the Functional Adult Literacy Program begins.

The Father Support Program (FSP) is developed and begins and first pilot implementations, in response to father needs.

1996

1997

AÇEV joins the “Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development” and is designated UNESCO’s “Central Asia Representative for Early Childhood Education.”

In response to overseas demand, MOCEP is implemented in Arabic in Bahrain.

1998

1999

Work begins on developing the Preschool Parent Child Education Program (PPCEP).

Implementations for the MOCEP begin in Belgium and France, and the Mother Support Program in Germany.

2000

2001

AÇEV receives the “Millennium Award” from the Women’s Health Commission (KASAKOM), and the “Most Effective Foundation of the Year Award” from the Yeni Olgu Art and Activity Group.

Developed in collaboration with Turkish Radio and Television (TRT), and geared to preschool-aged children and their families, the television program “Will You Play with Me?” begins airing on TRT channels. The program is elected “Best Children’s Program” by the Radio-Television Journalists’ Association, and receives “Children’s TV Program of the Year Award” from YA-PA Publications.

2002

2003

AÇEV opens its Education Center for Children and Families in Alipaşa, Diyarbakır. Implementations for the Preschool Education Program and its complementary component, the Mother Support Program, are initiated in Diyarbakir under “Summer Preschools.”

AÇEV hosts the annual meeting of the International Consultative Group on Early Childhood in İstanbul.

2004

2005

AÇEV launches the “7 is Too Late” Campaign in collaboration with six other NGOs to raise public awareness about, and generate support for, importance of early childhood education and the need to develop policies on point. Literacy education is broadcast on television in collaboration with TV channel Kanal D in a 65-episode project titled “Our Classroom.”

AÇEV’s Functional Adult Literacy Program receives UNESCO’s “King Sejong Literacy Award” given to selected literacy projects worldwide. To publicize the Father Support Program and the importance of father education, the television program “It’s Great to be a Father” is created and aired in collaboration with the national TV channel, NTV.

2006

2007

New content for newspaper/magazine ads and TV/radio spots are prepared and used to promote the ongoing “7 is Too Late” Campaign.

AÇEV signs a protocol for cooperation with Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child (HCDC) located in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

2008

2009

Two new projects are launched. The “Multidimensional Women’s Empowerment Project” with support from the Sabancı Foundation’s Grant Programs and, with funding from the Vodafone Turkey Foundation, the “First Step Ahead Project”.

AÇEV is honored with the The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) award for its Mother Child Education Program (MOCEP). AÇEV launches acevokuloncesi.org, a website designed to support preschool teachers, one of the key components of a quality preschool education.

2010

2011

A computer-based literacy program, “Read and Write with AÇEV” is also developed in line with AÇEV’s computer-aided instruction objectives. AÇEV becomes a member of the UNESCO/NGO Collective Consultation on Equal Education for All.

AÇEV’s Father Support Program launches the “You Are My Father”.

2012

2013

AÇEV’s leadership and success is recognized again with the “EMPower Champions of Youth Award” for its literacy work for young women. Strong interest in AÇEV’s concept note “Building a Generation of Reconciliation: The Role of Early Childhood Development in Peacebuilding” led to the inception of The Early Childhood Peace Consortium

AÇEV is honored with another prestigious award for its literacy work, this time from the United States Library of Congress, one of the oldest and most esteemed institutions in America. As part of its efforts to promote quality early childhood development, AÇEV launches the “First 6 Years” mobile application, in collaboration with the Vodafone Turkey Foundation, which now provides tens of thousands of parents with information on child development through their smart phones.

2014

2015

AÇEV, Yale University, and UNICEF host the inaugural “Pathways to Peace: Early Childhood and Families” Conference in İstanbul. AÇEV becomes a partner in Koç Holding’s project “I Support Gender Equality for My Country”, and joint work begins to raise awareness on the issue at all levels of society.

With the support of UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality, pilot implementations of a new women’s empowerment program called “POWER” (Politics for Women: Empowerment through Representation) begin, aiming to provide young women with opportunities for multi-faceted development.

2016

2017

AÇEV launches findings of the most comprehensive research study ever conducted on fatherhood in Turkey and a national Fatherhood Campaign—“Fatherhood Comes First”— to promote the message that fathers matter deeply to child development.

AÇEV moved to its new centerin Diyarbakır. The Sur Family and Child Education Center started to implement Preschool Education programs, various workshops for children aged 0-8, a library for children and parents, as well as play group activities.

2018

2019

AÇEV received the Barry & Marie Lipman Award given to three non-governmental organizations globally by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the leading universities in the United States. The prize is awarded to organizations who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation in their social impact.

AÇEV developed an online education program during the Covid-19 pandemic period called “Mother / Father Meetings and My Play Box at Home” in order to empower the households which have lower social economic statuses and are at risk, and started to implement it.

AÇEV YouTube channel was launched in order to provide the information and tips that the parents with children between 0 and 6 years of age need in order to support the development of their children.

AÇEV started the Traveling Service Vehicle Project in order to intervene in the possible post-disaster traumas that may arise in the long term following the earthquake in Elazığ.

2020

2021

AÇEV moved its “A Reading Future” project, which is conducted in order to make children acquire the habit of reading and support their language development, to the digital platform. Famous artists, experts and writers vocalized children’s books accompanied by Fazıl Say’s tunes in the platform which was launched with the solution partnership of Kidega and Needs Map.