Discussions on the Higher Education Law and the Bill on Amendments to Some Laws, which includes regulations regarding student amnesty and higher education, have started in the National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
The commission convened under the chairmanship of National Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Commission Chairman and AK Party Eskişehir Deputy Ayşen Gürcan.
Gürcan emphasized that today, information and technology are developing at a dizzying pace, therefore the higher education system should be developed to adapt to changing conditions, the international competitiveness of universities should be increased and research capacity should be developed, and noted that these are among the indispensable elements of the country's development goals.
Stating that higher education should be updated in line with the needs that arise in practice, developed to adapt to changing conditions and solutions to the problems encountered in practice, Gürcan said:
"It is seen that the proposal generally includes regulations aimed at strengthening the institutional functioning of our higher education institutions, meeting the needs that arise in practice, ensuring the more effective and efficient operation of the higher education system, protecting the right to education of students who have been dismissed from their universities for some reasons, eliminating legal uncertainties in various fields and filling the legal gap created by the annulment decisions given by the Constitutional Court on various issues in the past. Within the scope of the proposal, important regulations are included to increase the research and innovation capacity of our higher education institutions. In particular, strengthening technology transfer mechanisms, university-industry cooperation "It is aimed to contribute to our country's research, development and innovation ecosystem by developing, transforming scientific knowledge into economic value and supporting processes in the field of intellectual property."
Gürcan noted that the proposal also includes regulations that will contribute to the internationalization goals of higher education institutions, as well as regulations to alleviate the grievances of students who could not use their right to register and continue their education for various reasons.
"It has the potential to carry out education and research activities abroad."
AK Party Kocaeli Deputy Sadettin Hülagü, one of the first signatories of the proposal, shared information about the regulation.
Explaining that they aim to eliminate the problems that arise in the functioning of higher education institutions and to implement the necessary legal regulations in line with judicial decisions, Hülagü emphasized that they aim to strengthen the scientific and institutional capacity of universities.
Pointing out that Türkiye has made a significant progress in the field of higher education in recent years, Hülagü said, "Our universities now have the potential to carry out educational and research activities not only in our country but also abroad, with their academic knowledge and faculty capacity. Developing international relations have increased the demands for cooperation in the field of higher education from friendly and relative countries, and in this context, cooperation protocols have been signed with some countries in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa." he said.
Hülagü said that with the proposal, they aim to eliminate the hesitations that arise in practice and to protect the right to education with transitional provisions for dismissed students.
In the commission, the proposals of CHP Istanbul Deputy Suat Özçağdaş and DEM Party Iğdır Deputy Yılmaz Hun to remove some articles of the bill from the regulation on the grounds that they are contrary to the Constitution were voted separately, but the motions were not accepted. Then, discussions began on the entire bill.