The grants are relatively small, only around $4,000 to a primary school, up to $30,000 for a high school. But educators say, they are crucial for improving Turkey's education system, and for getting more children into the classroom.
Smart boards for smart students
In Emirdag, Turkey, eighth graders at the Azizye Basic Education School use smart boards to learn the history of the Turkish revolution. They say they like this new, interactive way of learning.
Sadettin Camci is an 8th grader at Azizye. "How I wish every school in the country could have this. Every kid could learn from this. Sometimes we learn by watching, sometimes by feeling, sometimes by hearing, sometimes by experiment."
His classmate, Fatmagul Keskin, agrees. "We learn all of our main courses this way, especially science, math, technology, history and English, all are taught to us in this hands-on way."
Targeting less wealthy areas
Emirdag is several hundred kilometers outside of Ankara. The city is heavily reliant on remittance money from Turkish workers in Belgium. And some families here are struggling—student enrollment at many schools here is below 90 percent.
With support from the World Bank, schools in poorer areas, with less than 90 percent enrollment, are eligible for small grants. 10 percent of Turkey's schools receive them.
The grants are designed, first and foremost, to raise enrollments. But they also aim to get the community involved in schooling, and they bring decision-making to the local level.