Özvar made statements about the work of YÖK in Antalya, where he came to attend the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, hosted by Türkiye.
Stating that COP31 is a very important meeting for the measures and permanent decisions that need to be taken against climate change in the world, Özvar stated that all countries should accept that climate change is a global issue.
Özvar stated that one should be willing to make the necessary legal regulations for the measures that need to be taken.
Pointing out that the issue of simplification of the curriculum is on the agenda in universities, Özvar noted that they emphasize that repetitive courses should be removed from the curriculum and that students should be given more compressed, more holistic training under course headings instead of giving many courses.
Özvar said:
"As the Council of Higher Education, we will continue these studies that we started last year in the coming days. By coming together with non-governmental organizations and relevant public institutions and organizations, we wish to review the relevant programs of the faculties of our universities, the weekly course schedules of the departments, the curricula, and the credits of all courses taken during an undergraduate period. As the Council of Higher Education, we think that it is necessary to make a will on this issue and simplify these, to prevent children from being busy with too many courses, and to make more effective lesson planning."
"WE ARE ESTABLISHING PROGRAMS THAT WILL MEET THE DEMANDS OF OUR YOUTH"
Prof. Dr. Özvar stated that studies should be carried out to employ university graduates.
Explaining that as the population grows, the issue of employment has become one of the agenda items that educational institutions focus on, Özvar said, "We attach great importance to our graduates doing a good job and participating in employment. Nothing could be more natural than this. While doing this, we share with the public that we should not insist on the existence of programs that have less relevance to employment, or rather do not help their graduates find the job they desire. We are now gradually taking these programs out of the system and establishing programs that will meet the expectations and demands of our young people." he said.
Pointing out that students have shown interest in new programs opened in recent years, Özvar said, "Especially the occupancy rates in digital and artificial intelligence programs have reached 100 percent. This is very valuable to us. Our children and young people see it. What job can they do after graduation? This is very valuable to us." he said.
Stating that new programs do not diminish the importance of existing programs, Özvar also stated that they see it as an important duty to offer new opportunities to students studying in some programs, taking into account their capacities.
"WE DO NOT GIVE THE RIGHT TO DO A SECOND MAJOR AGAIN"
Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar noted the following regarding the current agenda for dentistry and pharmacy students to pursue double majors in engineering programs:
"We have stated that young people who are above the success ranking can also do a second major. All students have the right to do a second major anyway. Therefore, we do not create the right to do a second major again. There is no such thing from scratch. In fact, our students who meet the requirements in the faculty of our university can choose a second major or minor branch. We have stated that our young people can study engineering or another related program of engineering at the same time, which will feed their own department and perhaps create innovations in various fields of pharmacy with the second major and be more productive. What we are trying to do is "It's not about bringing a new tradition to Türkiye, it's about granting the already existing second major right if these two programs have achieved a certain level of success."
Özvar pointed out that this practice is one of the standard practices seen all over the world.
Stating that the second major in pharmacy and dentistry is an issue that needs to be studied, Özvar said, "We want to do it in every university, but there are also physical requirements. We have to take this into account. Therefore, we will try to provide this incentive next year, taking into account the campuses of our universities, the success rankings of our students and other issues. It will not be limited to these. Regarding other programs, this is so that our students can get into life better, become more qualified, especially in their own professions, and become a more sought-after adult." "We will continue to produce or similar incentives."
"WE ARE TAKING MEASURES TO ENSURE THAT OUR CHILDREN TAKE APPLICATION TRAINING BEFORE ENTERING THE SECTOR"
Prof. Dr. Özvar said that distorting posts were made on some social media accounts, claiming that "YÖK's education periods are associated with women's fertility rate."
Özvar stated that the duration of education is getting longer, and therefore the time spent training to get started in life has increased, and concluded his words as follows:
"Today, a student cannot complete his/her education before the age of 22-23 on average in Türkiye. If you add a master's degree to this, he reaches the age of 24, 25, maybe 26. Then, if he says 'Let me do a doctorate' and adds another 4, 5 years, he reaches the age of 31, 32. This is all I am saying. This is already the case all over the world. In other words, the increase in the duration of education delays the time for our young people to enter life. That is why, as the Council of Higher Education, we are more children in terms of taking precautions for this. "We take precautions to ensure that a young person who is studying in communication, for example, gets into practice training before graduating from relevant institutions and organizations and then enters into business life."
