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General Staff closely monitored coefficient move, paper shows
The paper was signed by Brig. Gen. İ. Yılmaz, Lt. Gen. İ.H. Pekin, Col. N. Yılmaz and Maj. O. Yılmaz, and was submitted to Gen. Aslan Güner, the deputy chief of general staff, on Aug. 21. According to the paper, the abolishment of the coefficient system was aimed at allowing conservative individuals to expand their presence in the public sphere and, in this way, damage the unity of the country and society. The system uses a lower coefficient on the Student Selection Examination (ÖSS) to calculate the scores of graduates of vocational high schools.
In July, YÖK’s General Council decided to abolish the coefficient system, a move welcomed at the time by many who interpreted it as a groundbreaking step to end long-standing discrimination imposed on vocational school graduates, including those from religious imam-hatip high schools.
The lower coefficient was a byproduct of the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup, which led to the collapse of an Islamic-based government, and was introduced in an attempt to keep students from religious imam-hatip schools -- classified as vocational schools -- out of universities. The system has been the subject of strong criticism in Turkey as it is considered unfair towards graduates of vocational high schools who want to study at universities.
The 8th Chamber of the Council of State, however, ruled last month to retain the system. The ruling sent shockwaves across the country, with many observers lashing out at the council for violating the principle of equal opportunity in education.
In the paper, the department of intelligence recommended that the General Staff follow developments related to YÖK’s coefficient move.
“We have reached the conviction that the move is aimed at increasing the number of individuals who have adopted a conservative lifestyle in the public sphere. … The demand for dershanes [weekend or evening schools specializing in preparing students for national exams] will directly increase with the abolishment of the coefficient system. In addition to the İstanbul Bar Association and the Education Personnel Union [Eğitim-İş], students or parents of students attending high schools other than vocational high schools may appeal the move,” noted the paper.
The Council of State ruling came four months after the İstanbul Bar Association appealed to the council against the YÖK decision on the coefficient system. The bar stressed in its lawsuit that YÖK’s move would be unjust toward students who graduate from high schools other than vocational high schools, Anatolian high schools and science schools. “This move will provide ‘undeserved’ gains for a certain group of students,” the bar claimed. The bar appealed the decision after the honorary president of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Sabih Kanadoğlu, said publicly that the Council of State would settle the coefficient matter.
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