More than 20 million primary and secondary education students affiliated with the Ministry of National Education (MEB) will receive their report cards Friday and enter the 16-day semester break.

20.5 million students and 1.18 million teachers in schools affiliated with the Ministry of Education started classes on Sept. 11, 2023, in the 2023-2024 academic year after the summer vacation.

The ministry stated that homework that directs students to a single area, such as taking tests or summarizing, will not be given during the semester break that starts tomorrow.

The ministry, which wants students to be encouraged to participate in artistic, cultural, sports and scientific activities instead of homework, has also prepared interactive digital guidebooks for students to spend quality time with activities they can do with their families in accordance with their ages.

The ministry made a series of changes in education processes this year.

With the legislative regulations, absenteeism conditions in high schools were rearranged, grade repetition was reintroduced and transitions to open education were made more difficult.

In this context, only exceptional students were enrolled in open high schools.

In addition, the practice of allowing students to pass a class with a GPA of 50 in high schools was terminated. It was decided that those who failed a maximum of one course would be transferred directly to the next grade, provided that their end-of-year success score was 50.

There will no longer be any amnesty for absenteeism in high schools. For each day of unexcused absence, students will do one additional hour of social responsibility work.

An umbrella regulation regarding exams was published for the first time by the ministry, and it included the provision that all exams should be held in written form. Open-ended and short-answer questions were used in written exams conducted by teachers in schools.

In the first semester of the academic year, common written exams were held nationwide. A common written exam was held across the country for sixth grade with courses including Turkish and mathematics on Dec. 26 and for ninth-grade Turkish language, literature and mathematics courses on Dec. 27.

Within the scope of the new regulation, as of this year, the practice of written exam hours in the fourth grade of primary school has been abolished and grades are given according to the student development file.

Additionally, exam weeks were implemented in schools.

The ministry also made important decisions regarding Turkish and foreign language courses. Exams for Turkish, Turkish language and literature and foreign language courses were conducted in written and practical form to measure listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

In addition, short-term exams were also conducted to give immediate feedback to the student.

With the strengthening and repair works carried out in the earthquake zone, 48,000 classrooms were made ready for education and 11,076 containers were allocated for the accommodation of teachers in the region.

The new academic year semester break starts on Monday, Jan. 22, and will end on Friday, Feb. 2.

The second term will start on Monday, Feb. 5 and end on Friday, June 14. The second-semester break will be between April 8-12.

The 2024-2025 academic year will start on Sept. 9.