Public education and life long learning in local governments

A study that tries to evaluate the foundation and goals of Public Training Centers, the number of existing Public Training Centers in Turkey, the variety of courses in the centers(what kind of courses are available in the centers), the benefit of the certificates that the participants get at the end of the courses, the contents of the certificates, who is interested in what kind of courses ( housewives, officials, students etc.), how efficiently the participants know the ways to apply, what kind of arrangements have been made in the Public Education Centers in recent years and what kinds of studies have been done and the effect and efficiency of local authorities along with PTC (Public Training Center) on public training is presented. It has also been shown in the study with the help of data that while planning the education of the public, Local government should evaluate the public in terms of Life-Long Learning and be aware of the importance of their roles in making serious plans including numerous sensitive issues in Life-Long Learning. It is also an inevitable view that Local Authorities and HEMs have very serious missions in LLL (Life Long Learning). Adult Training Centers which are meeting points for every citizen who are illiterate specially for young and old women, are identified as in dispens able educational environments where people at all ages from 7 to 77 wish to spend their time, to get psychological support, to socialize and to meet at the same learning environment. This study has been carried out to draw attention to the fact that Public Training and Life Long Learning studies in local governments are very important in terms of the current state of affairs and these works will be more serious and constant if they are carried out in cooperation with Public Training Centers. The study has also emphasized that adult education performed by local governments is affected by political stances and sanctions that they are in adequate and inconsistent, that Public Training Center activities are not noticed and valued as they are being carried out in the shadow of these activities. The study has been supported by surveys, statistics and activities experienced and observed and the expected result has been obtained. In the course of this research, it has been understood that most of the trainings actually were consumed on a day to day basis and with the studies that aim to get their results in the long run the real expectations of the citizen conflict with the demands of the system and local governments have not been effective at all in adult education except for certain large populated regions. The findings have shown that local governments have performed Life Long Learning activities properly and for the education of the Public all institutions and organizations including non-governmental organizations are required to work in coordination.