Abstract:

Objective:A change in the education system in Turkey in 2012 have negatively affected the number of student per class, which is one of main indicators to explain the education equality. This increase has created unequal educational opportunity in some primary education institutions across the country. Thus, the objective of the study is to research spatial distribution and spatial clusters of the students per class (SPC) in Turkey for urban and rural areas.Methods and Material: The statistical data is collected from Turkish Statistical Institute and Ministry of National Education at period 2012-2014. Mapping analyses, LISA, local and global autocorrelation analyses are conducted by using MapInfo and GeoDasoftware.  Results:While SPC values are rather high in the east and southern east regions of Turkey and also metropolitans, they are very low in inner part of Turkey. Particularly, SPC values areso dramatic for the South Eastern Anatolia due to terrorism and the high population growth rate. Also there are spatial autocorrelations between geographical areas and also clusters in terms of SPC values in Turkey.