Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya attended the 2021-2022 Higher Education Academic Year Opening Ceremony organized by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) and attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of YÖK Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar, Ministers and top officials, YÖK members, Heads of Relevant Institutions, Ambassadors and all the university rectors and students attended.
In the ceremony, firstly, a music concert was performed by the Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music State Conservatory Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ali Tüfekçi. Then, a video on the development and current status of Turkish Higher Education titled "Higher Education" was shown.
President of YÖK Özvar: "The Epidemic Revealed New Education Models"
President of YÖK Erol Özvar who made a speech at the ceremony, wished good luck with the 2021-2022 academic year for the country. YÖK Chairman Özvar stated that serious and long-lasting difficulties, changes and new education models have emerged in higher education, as in many other fields, due to the new lifestyle brought by the epidemic worldwide for nearly two years and indicated that over 1 billion 725 million students were affected by the epidemic process.
President of YÖK Özvar: "A Great Transformation Has Happened in Higher Education in the Last 20 Years"
Özvar underlined that with the support of President Erdoğan, the physical infrastructure problems in universities have been almost completely resolved in the last two decades, and in parallel with this, more and more students have the opportunity to reach higher education every year, and said, “In 2010, the number of students was 3 million 480 thousand while in 2021, it reached 8 million 241 thousand. Half of the university students are female students. Not only Turkish students but also international students, whose number is about 250 thousand, benefit from education opportunities in higher education institutions. Allied with these developments, the total number of teaching staff at universities has increased by 80 percent in the last 10 years, from 102,682 to 181,272. With the increasing demand, it is necessary to achieve two difficult but complementary missions; enriching the teaching field without compromising the quality of the programs and increasing the number of high-profile teaching staff needed.”.
YÖK President Özvar who emphasized that that universities have the power and quality to have a say in the international scientific world, concluded his speech by saying that they will do their best to make this capacity visible.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who made a speech after the President of YÖK Erol Özvar, reminded that there have been great difficulties in education services since March 2020, as in many areas, due to the coronavirus epidemic, and stated that it is important to continue education even from a distance. After expressing that it is clear that distance education will not replace the experience of face-to-face education, Erdoğan stated that, however, as the government, they have taken every precaution to function educational institutions at all levels at the designated time.
President Erdoğan: “Towards 2030, We Will Provide Major Financial Support to Universities within the Global Visions Support Program in Turkish Higher Education”
President Erdoğan stated that the political and economic transformations at the global level and vital developments such as climate change necessitate a strong vision targeting the next 10 years in higher education and its implementation and said: “Both with the support we will provide as the government and the resources the universities will develop themselves, we believe that they can bring such a vision to life. During the epidemic, we have seen together that we have the necessary infrastructure and horizon in many fields from health to industry. We have now entered a period when we have to stop being an imitator and follower and become in a determining and guiding position.”
President Erdoğan continued his words as follows: “One of these steps is the 'Global Visions Support Program in Turkish Higher Education Towards 2030', which is the largest financial support organization ever made to universities in the history of the Turkish Republic. With this program, which will be implemented under the leadership of the Council of Higher Education, our universities will hopefully serve to make our country one of the leading centers of innovative studies in the world. We will personally support this program and make every contribution to help our universities achieve global success.”
President Erdoğan: “Not 15 percent of the youth, but 44 percent of them can reach higher education”
Erdoğan stated that for a long time, higher education in Turkey was a privileged service that only a small part of the society could access. Pointing out that the enrollment rate of young people between the ages of 18-22 in Turkey was below 15 percent even at the end of the 1990s, Erdoğan said, “We increased the number of public and foundation higher education institutions to 207, which was 76 in 2002. We have ensured that every province in Turkey has its own university. Parallel to the increase in the number of universities, the number of our academic staff has increased from 70 thousand to over 180 thousand. In the same period, the number of university students increased from 1.6 million to 8.4 million. Now, 44 percent of our young people between the ages of 18-22 can reach higher education, not 15 percent,".
At the end of the ceremony, after the President of YÖK Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar and President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made the opening speeches, the “YÖK 2021 Outstanding Achievement Awards”, which are given annually by YÖK in two categories as “individual and corporate”, were also given.
Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya, in his statement after the opening ceremony, wished the pandemic process to end as soon as possible and celebrated the 2021-2022 academic year of all students, academic and administrative staff.