Günümüz dünyasında baş döndüren bir hızla değişen toplumsal, bilimsel ve ekonomik koşullar, eğitimi ekonomik gelişme sürecinin ayrılmaz bir parçası haline getirmektedir. Çünkü ülkelerin kalkınması nüfusuna verilen eğitim imkanları ile doğru orantılı olup, eğitimde bireye kazandırılan bir çok kültürel, mesleki bilgi ve beceriler toplumun kalkınmasındaki en büyük dinamiği oluşturmaktadır. Ancak ülkemizde eğitim faaliyetleri dolayısıyla da sonuçları her coğrafyaya eşit şekilde dağılmamıştır. Bu araştırmada 6 yaş üzerindeki nüfus içerisinde okuma yazma bilmeyen nüfus oranı, Türkiye ortalamasının yaklaşık olarak iki katı olan Altınyayla ilçesinin (Sivas) eğitim durumu incelenmiştir. Araştırmada 2008 yılı TÜİK verileri kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sırasında elde edilen bütün veriler Sivas il geneli ve Türkiye geneli veriler ile karşılaştırılarak anlamlı göstergeler haline getirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Türkiye genelinde okuma yazma bilmeyenlerin oranı % 7,7 iken, Sivas il genelinde % 9,8, Altınyayla ilçe genelinde ise % 12,5’tir. Altınyayla ilçe genelinde erkeklerin % 4,7’si okuma yazma bilmez iken, bu oran kadın nüfus içerisinde % 20,7’dir. Bu durum, araştırma sahasında cinsiyetlerin eğitim alanındaki “haklardan” eşit şekilde faydalanamadığını ortaya koymaktadır. Altınyayla ilçe merkezinde nüfusun % 10,9’u okuma yazma bilmez iken, bu oran Altınyayla kırsalında % 13,1’dir. Yani şehirde veya köyde yaşamak eğitim hakkına erişimi farklılaştırmaktadır. Araştırma sahasında yaş grupları büyüdükçe okuma yazma bilenlerin oranı azalırken, okuma yazma bilmeyenlerin oranı artmaktadır. Örneğin 40-44 yaş grubunda okuma yazma bilmeyenlerin sayısı 84 kişi iken, 50-54 yaş grubunda 123 kişiye çıkmıştır. Bitirilen eğitim düzeyinde cinsiyetler arasındaki dengeli ve eşit bir dağılım, sağlıklı bir nüfusu temsil etmektedir. Araştırma sahasında bitirilen eğitim düzeyi daima erkekler lehine olmakta bu durum sahada cinsiyetler arasında “fırsat eşitliği” kavramının tam olarak yerleştirilemediğini göstermektedir.

In today’s world; economical, social and scientific conditions which are changing really rapidly make the education an integral part of this economical development process. Because; the development of countries is directly related to the educational facilities give to population cultural, professional knowledge and skills gained to individuals thanks to education consist the most important part of the social development. Howover, ın our country educational facilities and their results don’t be shared by all regions equally. In our country the proportion of people who knows writing and reading above the 6 years old is still % 85,7 according to the datas of 2008. This shows that even the writing and reading skills the basic level of education isn’t attainable to all citizens. This research analyses the educational level of district of Altınyayla (Sivas) of which the proportion of illiterate is approximately the double of the average of Turkey. While analysing the educational background of Altınyayla the population above the 6 years old is considered and the datas of TÜİK is used. In this research; while the educational background of population is analysed; the number and distribution of schools is considered. Then the average of illiterates and literates, the proportion of men and women in literates is considered and “the balance of gender” is tried to be revealed. To observe imbalance of literates due to spatial differences, the literate rate of urban and rural population is researched and the distribution of literates according to age is analysed. Besides; ın research area “the completed educational level” which is one of the most meaningful indicator in defining the population’s educational backgraund is looked over. And the concepts of “equal opportunity in education” and “accessibility” to educational facilities are explicated. All the results gained thanks to this research are compared whith the province-wide (Sivas) and country-wide (Turkey) results. Altınyayla district of Sivas is located within the boundaries of the south in the Pınarbası (Kayseri), Kangal in the southeast, Ulaş in northeasth and east, Sivas in east and Şarkışla in west. According to 2008 census results, 10 521 people live in research area. % 51,3 (5 402) of over all population is men, % 48,7 (5 119) is women. While the % 70 (7 327) of population is living rural area, % 30 (3 194) live in urban. The distribution of gender is in parallel with urban and rural population. % 51,3 of the population of rural and city centre is consisted by men and the % 48,7 is women. There are 19 schools at the research area, three of them are at the city centre, sixteen of them are at the towns. In these schools Gaziosmanpaşa and Serinyayla Primary Schools have cambired-classes; the other schools give full time and normal education. There are 9 251 people above 6 years old in Altınyayla. % 79,8 of there population know literacy, % 12,5 don’t know, and literacy level of % 7,7 isn’t know. The proportion of illiterate in Altınyayla is much more than the both Sivas and Turkey. In Altınyayla % 4,7 of the men above 6 years old don’t know literacy and % 20,7 of the women don’t know literacy, neither. This shows that ın the research area there is a “gender discrimination” and also people can’t benefit from “educational facilities” equally. The concept of “equal opportunity” between genders can’t be established. Living in a city or town differentiates the accessibility of right to education, people live in a city centre have much more opportunity to benefit from educational facilities than the ones who live in a rural area. Because of this, the comparison of the educational level of cities and towns is a meaningful indicator. In the city centre % 10,9 of the population above 6 years old don’t know literacy, in the rural area this proportion is % 13,1. As the age group increases; the proportion of literated people decareases, the proportion of illiterated ones increases. For example; the overall number of illiterated ones between 35-39 age group is 52. But this number increases to 84 between 40-44 and to 123 between 50-54. Completed educational level is also a feature of population that should be analysed. Because ın technology age, just being literated isn’t a privilege. As the completed educational level increases, quality of the population also increases. In Altınyayla % 28,2 of the population above 6 years old is “literated though not finishing a school”, % 24 is “primary school graduate”, % 15,3 is “elementary school graduate”, % 2,8 is “secondory school graudate”, % 7,4 is “high school graduate” and % 1,8 is “college or university graduate”. A balanced and equal dispersal at completed educational level stages a hale population. Above all protecting the balance between genders at every educational level ensures the altogether development and improvement. In Altınyayla % 24,5 of the population of men above 6 years old is primary school giadute, % 15,7 is elementary school graduate, % 4,8 is secondary school graduate, % 11 is high school graudate, % 2,7 is college or university graduate. % 23,6 of the population of women is primary school graduate, % 14,9 is elementary school graduate, % 0,6 is secondary school graduate, % 3,7 is high school graduate and % 0,9 is college or university graduate. Nonetheless, in the research area, living in rural or urban area effects the accessibility of educational facilities and completed educational level. In Altınyayla city centre the proportion of secondary school graduate is % 4,2; on the other hand this proportion is % 2,2 in rural regions. The proportion of high school graduate is % 12,8 at the city centre; but ıt’s % 5,1 at the rural.