Building a good future begins with early childhood. Children develop most rapidly in their earliest years and supportive environment is crucial in this period. The Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV) aims to support children in these most formative years to give them a right start to life.

Since its establishment in 1993, AÇEV’s mission has been to make a lasting contribution to society by supporting the development of children and their environments through education starting from early years.

Spanning early childhood, parenting, and adult literacy, AÇEV’s training programs target all stages of human development and all members of the family from early childhood to parenthood.

AÇEV’s programs have common goals of reducing disparities and addressing inequalities in various domains: preschool programs target equal opportunity, bridging the socioeconomic gap in school readiness and academic success by accessing disadvantaged children; and literacy and parent support programs address gender equality.

Video (Turkish, Eng subtitles) | Summer Preschool Program for Refugees (3:17)

This AÇEV program prepares six-year-old Syrian refugee children for the formal Turkish primary school system in order for them to be developmentally prepared and culturally adapted. This intensive 10-week long preschool program was implemented in Istanbul (July – September 2016) in collaboration with the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education and with the generous support of Siemens Turkey and Plan International.

Contributors: Suna Hanoz-Penny serves as Expert Consultant to the ECPC. She is International Programs Director at the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV).

Yasemin Sirali serves on the ECPC Executive Committee. She is Director of Ozyegin Social Investments, a network of institutions including the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV), Husnu Ozyegin Foundation (HMOV), Iz Child Centers, and Ozyegin University based in Turkey

Ayla Göksel serves as Advisor to the ECPC. She is CEO of Özyeğin Social Investments, a network of non-profit organizations, including AÇEV (Mother-Child Education Foundation), Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation and Iz Child and has over twenty years of experience in education programs, policy and infrastructure impacting 1.5 million people across Turkey with award winning programs implemented in 14 other countries.