Parents' views on whether education spending meets their expectations of education

Household expenditure on education has increased in recent years. The transformation towards privatisation, which began in public services with the change in the world economic system after the 1980s, has had an increasing impact on education since the 2000s. Privatisation in the education system, the legal basis for which has been established by government policy, has increased and spread at a rapid pace at the levels of primary, secondary and higher education. This privatisation has directly or indirectly affected the educational expenditure of individuals or parents. Parents have started to pay for education out of their own pockets at a higher rate than in the past. In Turkey, the direct or indirect expenditure on education is increasing for students studying in both public and private schools. The aim of this study is to analyse parents' views on the educational expenses they incur for their children's education and their expectations from education. This research was conducted using the case study method, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the research consists of 28 parents selected by maximum diversity method from a public school and a private school. The data were collected using the interview method and analysed using the content analysis technique. According to the results of the study, parents' expenditures on their children's education include various items such as tuition fees at private educational institutions, books, stationery, tutoring or private tutoring fees, educational technology, transportation and food, and these expenditures vary between TL 2,500 and TL 200,000 for the 2022- 2023 academic year. Expenditure on education varies according to parents' level of education, preferences for educational institutions, income level, region of residence and other factors. In the context of parents' expectations from education, private school fees account for a large share of education expenditure, and both public and private school parents feel obliged to make intensive expenditures in areas such as study centres, private tuition, social, sports, artistic activities and courses for the academic and social development of their children, as they consider their schools to be inadequate in various areas. According to the research, both private and public school parents' expectations of school education are not met, especially in the areas of academic and social activities, and they spend heavily in these areas. In terms of social justice and income inequality, the amount of money parents can spend on education in Turkey varies and this situation creates disadvantages for certain groups. In the direct or indirect privatisation of education, both public and private schools should be balanced with a more egalitarian model in order to eliminate the disadvantages of low-income groups in the competitive environment. Given the inadequacies of private and public schools in meeting parents' expectations, it is recommended that their education systems be based on criteria, supervised by the state, and that the intense differences between them be eliminated.