ÖSYM head calls for amendment of coefficient system

“You know, there is huge difference [due to the coefficient] between the scores of students who want to enroll in a university program within their area of specialization and of those who want to try something different. This is a difference that is impossible to make up. I believe the system needs to be changed. The Higher Education Board [YÖK] is working on the issue and the Council of State decisions within the framework of the law,” he said.

Yarımağan, however, declined to comment on a recent ruling by the Council of State to retain a coefficient system that uses a lower coefficient to calculate the university admission scores of graduates of vocational high schools.

He called on graduates of vocational high schools to continue studying for the university entrance examination. “Let us wait for a while. There is uncertainty [on the coefficient issue] at the moment. A new amendment is looming on the horizon. YÖK plans to appeal the Council of State decision. If the appeal is upheld, then the latest YÖK decision on coefficients will be implemented. I don’t want to say that students will not be influenced by the recent incidents, but they should not be unduly influenced. I advise them to continue preparing for the examination,” he noted.

Lawyers speak out against coefficient move by İstanbul Bar Association

A large number of lawyers, most of whom are members of the İstanbul Bar Association, have raised their voices against recent attempts by the bar to block the efforts of YÖK to eliminate the controversial coefficient system.

Lawyer Şadi Çarsancaklı, who once ran for association president, said the existing administration of the İstanbul Bar Association has turned it into a side in ongoing “conflicts.” “I am calling on the members of the association to oppose this conduct. It is a shame to victimize thousands of young people to gain strength in the fight against the ruling party. This fight damages the judiciary itself,” he remarked.

Çarsancaklı was complaining about two recent appeals by the İstanbul Bar Association to the Council of State to nullify attempts by YÖK to abolish the coefficient system.

In a landmark move last July, YÖK decided to totally abolish the coefficient system. It was regarded as a groundbreaking move to eliminate inequality between graduates of vocational schools and all other high schools in Turkey.

Shortly after the YÖK decision, the İstanbul Bar Association asked the 8th Chamber of the Council of State to ensure that the coefficient system remained in place. In late November, the court ruled to retain the system, arguing that the abolishment of the coefficient system would damage the integrity and harmony of the Turkish education system.

In a second attempt, YÖK worked to partially solve the problem by reducing the difference in the coefficients used to calculate scores of regular and vocational high schools to be as small as 0.13 percent. Upon yet another appeal by the İstanbul Bar, the Council of State ruled earlier this week to retain the coefficient system.

According to Bilal Çalışır, head of the Boğaziçi Lawyers Association, the İstanbul Bar Association’s appeals to the Council of State do not conform to the principles of law. “The association claims that they appealed for reasons of human rights, but they turn a blind eye to the right of access to education of thousands of young people. The association, however, does not exert as much effort in the professional area,” he complained.

The coefficient system was introduced during the Feb. 28 postmodern coup 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 harsh criticism in Turkey as it is unfair toward graduates of vocational schools -- including imam-hatip schools, which have a curriculum that includes religious education -- who want to study at universities.

The head of the Association of Jurists, Kamil Uğur Yaralı, approached the issue from a different perspective and said the recent activities of the İstanbul Bar Association have damaged its reputation. “They have showed that they stand by practices that are unlawful and anti-freedom, though its members have more serious problems,” he said and called on members of the association to remove the current administration from their positions.