'Türkiye COMPLETED ITS CAPACITY NEEDS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE 2020S'

At the commission meeting, Higher Education Council (YÖK) President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar made evaluations. Özvar stated that higher education is a field with depth and that Türkiye has a similar growth in higher education to countries such as China, Brazil, South Korea and Singapore. Özvar said, "Today, we have 208 universities together with the foundation and the state. Of course, as the university capacity expands all over the world, discussions about quality and quantity come with it. Even in China, which stands out with its activities in the field of innovation, quality and the quality of universities are a matter of serious debate. Therefore, we consider the discussion of these in Türkiye as a process that will produce extremely good and healthy results. In this respect, Turkey will meet its capacity needs in higher education to a great extent in the 2020s." "From now on, as stated by our esteemed President and as expressed by all our parties in the Parliament, the activities aimed at the quality of our universities need to gain momentum and emphasis. The Council of Higher Education continues this effort today, as in the past, with all its capacity and all its possibilities."

'SIX UNIVERSITIES ARE RANKED IN THE TOP 500 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR HISTORY'

He stated that all segments of society should support universities and that the claims that Türkiye's universities' place in world rankings has decreased are not true. Özvar said, "Today, Turkey is the country that represents the most universities in the top 1000 in the world after England in Europe. We should all be proud of our nose. Look, it is the country that represents the most universities in the top 1000 in Europe after England, and for the first time in our history, 6 of our universities have been ranked in the top 500. These are the success of our country, not of our university, we need to see it that way, but we certainly do not say that these are sufficient, of course we have problems, there are issues that we need to address."

'Access to HIGHER EDUCATION IN Türkiye HAS BECOME NO LONGER A PROBLEM'

Özvar evaluated the items in the proposal and continued as follows;

"If we evaluate it in terms of students going abroad, let me say this; access to higher education in Türkiye has largely ceased to be a problem. Currently, only some of our students or candidates want to try their luck abroad, not in our country. There is no constitutional or legal way to ask them, 'Wait a minute, where are you going?' We have no right to say. Of course, we want our children who study in Türkiye's best high schools to study in Türkiye, we need to express this. The most important and serious problem we face with our students going abroad is this; Some intermediary organizations talk about some facilities and opportunities for students abroad. My dear deputies, they transport these children abroad to some countries with the fees they receive, and they take them to universities that are not recognized or whose equivalence is not accepted, even though the Council of Higher Education clearly declares it on its 'websites' and news channels. These children are not recognized thereafter and their equivalence is not accepted. Unfortunately, he faces serious problems when he comes here from university. These friends come to you and say, 'Can you find an answer to this problem of ours?' they say. Our request is that all universities recognized by the Republic of Türkiye are registered on our 'website' and all our social channels; Clearly, it is very easy for them to learn these things by entering e-government."

'IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS ABOUT THE RECTOR OF ŞIRNAK UNIVERSITY, I WILL COME TO YÖK'

Regarding the questions from the MPs about the Rector of Şırnak University, Özvar said, "I would like to express this here. I say it on my own behalf, as a person who has tried to pay attention to the rights of people throughout my life; despite the Rector of Şırnak University repeatedly making statements in the press, despite making public statements, and filing a criminal complaint to the prosecutor's office 4 times, none of these are on the agenda. He clearly stated, he said, 'I have 3 relatives in Şırnak', and he is not a faculty member in Şırnak, but a faculty member at Dicle University." member: 'While I was not the rector, these three civil servants who were my relatives entered the university while I was away.' 'What is my fault for this? After me, after I became rector, two of my relatives came to the university in a becayiş manner.' he says. He openly declares this publicly. 'Sir, if you do not follow me, I will do this to all of you, I am above everyone else', that is, your minds, please, my dear representatives, put your hands on your conscience. Can a rector say these words if he is in his right mind? That journalist says, 'These are also written on Facebook.' Well, he has 5 thousand followers, but 5 thousand followers cannot see what is written, but that journalist sees what is written? Oh, for God's sake, my dear deputies, please. It's a shame, it's a sin. Honestly, we need to pay attention to this issue of people's rights, people's rights are important. This friend of ours is 50-55 years old, has children, a family and a wife, so that's it. Okay, I'm not a politician, but you know, there are political debates and people also have rights. If you have any doubts about this issue, I'm waiting for YÖK or tell me, I'll come and talk to that friend, but we have to stop here, it's a bit out of taste. Think about the family, the child, it is really a very difficult thing for us rectors. We request from you in this regard; "If there is, tell me, look, this is the authority that will open the first investigation and give the first punishment, do not have any doubts, that is, at all," he said.