Lisesi

Lisesi is the Turkish term for a high school, referring to institutions that provide upper secondary education. The term is used both generically to describe high schools and in the proper names of individual schools, where it signals the school’s status as a high school within the Turkish education system. In everyday usage, lise denotes the level of secondary education, while lisesi can function as the definite form in phrases such as the high school of a city or in the name of a specific school.

The word lisesi derives from the French lycée, reflecting the influence of European educational models on Turkey’s modernization efforts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The concept covers a range of secondary schools that prepare students for higher education, with variations in focus, language of instruction, and specialization.

Structure and curriculum generally follow a four-year program, covering grades 9 through 12. The national curriculum includes core subjects such as Turkish, mathematics, science or social studies, and foreign language instruction, alongside elective tracks and school-specific programs. Public and private liseler operate under the oversight of the Ministry of National Education, and admission often depends on school type and entrance procedures.

Types of liseler include specialized institutions such as anatolian liseleri (academic tracks with enhanced language and science emphasis), fen liseleri (science high schools), yabancı dil liseleri (foreign language high schools), güzel sanatlar liseleri (fine arts high schools), mesleki liseler (vocational high schools), and imam hatip liseleri (religious secondary schools). These variants reflect differing aims within upper secondary education and pathways to higher education or vocational careers.