Court decision on coefficient sparks uproar across nation

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the court of treating graduates of vocational schools as "stepchildren." "The decision is a blow against vocational school students, who are being treated as stepchildren. This is so ugly. ... Are they doing so because the prime minister is a religious imam-hatip high school graduate?" he asked and accused the Council of State of approaching the coefficient issue "ideologically.” The prime minister's remarks came during his AK Party parliamentary group gathering yesterday.

The Council of State ruled on Monday to retain a system that uses a lower coefficient to calculate the university admission examination scores of graduates of vocational high schools. The ruling came in the wake of an appeal by the İstanbul Bar Association against a move by the Higher Education Board (YÖK) to reduce the difference in the coefficients used to calculate the scores of regular and vocational high school students to 0.13 percent. Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu termed the Council of State decision “deficient” in terms of the law and said the only body authorized to decide on the national examinations was YÖK.

Ahmet Gündoğdu, head of the Education Personnel Labor Union (Eğitim Bir-Sen), said the Council of State decision was aimed at protecting the “impositions” of the Feb. 28, 1997 post-modern coup. “Students were allowed to enroll in university programs from 1974 to 1997 in line with their success on the [Student Selection Examination]. However, a coefficient system was introduced during the Feb. 28 process. The then-head of YÖK immediately put the system into effect. This is a shame for Turkey. Students are punished because of the type of high school diploma they have. The Council of State was expected to eliminate the injustice, but it approved the violation of the right to access education. It made its decision despite the public, but not in the name of the public,” he noted.

The coefficient system was introduced during the Feb. 28 period 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 clearly unfair toward graduates of vocational schools -- including imam-hatip schools, which have a curriculum to provide additional religious education to students -- who want to study at universities.

The court argued in its decision that the coefficient system was not against the fundamental principles of the law. The application of different coefficients for graduates of regular and vocational schools was “well-established” in a system that grew stable with the decisions of judicial bodies, according to the court. The court also ruled that vocational school graduates who entered the top 1,000 list of the Student Selection Examination (ÖSS) should be exempt from the coefficient system to “encourage success” among those students. The Council of State decision on the coefficient system is the second of its kind. YÖK has the right to appeal the decision.

YÖK head Yusuf Ziya Özcan expressed concern for graduates of vocational schools after the court decision. “We are thinking of what we can do as a next step. We will draw up our roadmap public after deliberation,” he noted.

Professor Halis Ayhan, a YÖK member, castigated the Council of State for placing itself ahead of his board. He said the authority to decide on the university examination system lies in the hands of YÖK. “The court has disappointed thousands of students with its decision. The mystery of success in an examination is to adjust the dose of excitement. The court decision will have a negative impact on students,” he warned.

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (KOBİDER) Chairman Nurettin Özgenç said he was shocked by the controversial coefficient decision. “The Council of State broke the hearts of hundreds of thousands of students instead of breaking the heart of the İstanbul Bar Association. The two institutions adopted a political stance due to their ideological obsessions. … What does the association want from young brains? I cannot make sense of its tough stance,” he remarked.

The İstanbul Bar Association is better known for its “protectiveness” toward suspected coup instigators within the armed forces. It organized a protest not long ago against the Ergenekon trial, in which several members of the military face prison charges due to apparent plots to overthrow the AK Party government.

Many in Turkey are outraged by a ruling by the the Council of State on a coefficient system that makes it difficult for vocational school graduates to go to college.

The head of the Association of Active Businessmen and Industrialists, Ali Akalın, announced that industrialists plan to seek legal redress against the coefficient ruling. According to Akalın, the ruling will further increase the Turkish industrial sector’s problems finding qualified staff.

‘We do not want ambiguity’

Vocational high school students found themselves in a predicament following the announcement of the Council of State’s decision. An overwhelming majority of those students come from middle-class families, which send their children to those schools to enable them to acquire a profession as soon as possible.

Most of the students, however, regret their decision to enroll in vocational schools after they realize in time that they will almost never have the chance to enroll in a university program.

“Regardless of the impact on students’ psychology, issuing such a decision is nothing but disappointing for us. Anyone with good sense will see that this decision is unjust. We do not want to sail toward an ambiguous future. We want to see the future; we want to be sure about our future,” lamented Kader Baş, a student at an İstanbul vocational high school.

Merve Özsoy, a 12th grader at the Hikmet Nazif Kurşunluoğlu Vocational High School, said she wished she were in a nightmare. “Such a scene that pushes the limits of disappointing young people can surely exist only in nightmares. What do the İstanbul Bar Association and the Council of State want from us? This decision is nothing short of malicious intent,” she remarked.

Faruk Ardıç, a student advisor at the FEM Dershaneleri (private schools that offer college prep courses), called on parents to boost the morale of their children and urge them to continue studying for the university entrance examination. “The Council of State did not issue a stay of execution. It just wanted to increase the difference of the coefficient [between regular and vocational school students]. The important announcement will come from YÖK head Özcan,” he noted.