Higher education to be restructured to reduce graduate unemployment

The Turkish Higher Education Institution (YÖK) is carrying out three long-term projects by investigating student success, employment rate of graduates and needs analysis of human resources having doctorate degrees. Following these three projects, which will run for 18 to 36 months, a new road map for higher education will be determined.

YÖK is carrying out three projects called "Developing Management Support Systems of Education Programs at Higher Education," "Evaluating Student Success Concerning Higher Education System" and "Management Support System for Human Resources Having Doctorate Degree." Universities and private companies can also participate in these projects, which will be cooperatively conducted by YÖK and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).

Three separate calls were made for the new projects. The aims of these projects are as follows: "The demand for opening new faculties and departments will be examined more strategically by studying systematically the targets of the region and the city. A demand will be questioned by asking ‘Is this faculty needed here?' Since the earliest graduates will be in the market four years after the opening of a new department, terms covering four years and more will be included in the planning. A decision-support mechanism will be founded. Employment capacity and graduate qualifications will be evaluated."

Area, program, region and country-based analysis will be conducted as part of the Developing Management Support Systems of Education Programs at Higher Education. Classifications will be made according to the professional and higher educational qualifications. Analysis will be made for the needs of the employment market and projections will be produced and quotas of the current programs will be determined accordingly.

Data about high school successes, university entrance exam results, university education, graduation averages and other exams entered during the process of employment will be compiled as part of Evaluating Student Success Concerning Higher Education System. The university entrance exam, general grade point average at university and other exams entered after graduation will be analyzed. A graduate monitoring program will be designed. Universities will be compared with each other on the basis of the program, and offers will be produced to improve central exam systems for the future.

The need for human resources professionals having doctorate degrees will be separately analyzed for academic, private and public sectors. Area, program, region and country-based projections will be produced as part of the Management Support System for Human Resources Having Doctorate Degrees. Contributions will be made to the designing processes of new doctorate programs at higher education institutions.

All these projects will take 18 to 36 months to complete, and TÜBİTAK will provide support. YÖK will give a commitment to practice the results obtained from these projects in accordance with legislative regulations.