The head of Türkiye’s Council of Higher Education (YÖK), Erol Özvar, said international reports project that around 40% of workers’ current skills will change or become obsolete by 2030, making continuous learning a necessity.
“International reports project that around 40% of workers’ current skills will change or become obsolete by 2030. This striking finding shows that continuously developing ourselves is no longer a choice but a necessity,” Özvar said.
According to a statement from YÖK, Özvar attended the online opening meeting for the new academic term of the Digital University Platform from Ahi Evran University.
Addressing participants, Özvar said advances in science and technology were reshaping many aspects of life, from working methods and production processes to everyday activities and education.
He noted that developments in artificial intelligence, data science and digital technologies were rapidly transforming how societies produce and use information.
This transformation was also evident in professions and labor markets, Özvar said, adding that while some professions were losing their importance, new areas of specialization were emerging and the knowledge and skills required for existing jobs were changing.
He stressed that the knowledge and skills acquired during university education could no longer be sufficient for an entire lifetime. Students, as well as engineers, teachers, physicians and public employees with years of professional experience, needed to acquire new knowledge and skills, he added.
Özvar said digital technologies were removing many barriers to learning, allowing people to acquire new specializations without leaving their cities or interrupting their work. As a result, education was becoming less restricted by location and age, he added.
Türkiye was closely following developments in science and technology and restructuring its higher education system to meet changing needs, Özvar said. He emphasized that the goal was to establish a higher education system capable of developing new educational models by making use of opportunities offered by technological advances.
He described the Data Analysis School, launched last year, as an important example of this approach, noting that the program had attracted considerable interest in its first year.
More than 135,000 applications were received during the initial period, Özvar said, adding that around 30,000 active participants benefited from training provided by academics.
He said the participation of university students and people from various professions was encouraging, while positive feedback and an overall satisfaction rate of 86% provided a strong incentive to expand the initiative.
Approximately 230,000 people applied to the new platform this year, and around 55,000 are expected to benefit from its training programs, Özvar said.
Özvar said the increase in applications and participants demonstrated that the initiative had resonated strongly with the public.
“We do not see the platform merely as a program for training specialists in specific fields,” he said, emphasizing that the main objective was to ensure that all segments of society, from students to working professionals, could access the knowledge and skills required in the modern era.
He said he believed the training programs would help people prepare for new professions while also enabling them to perform their existing jobs more effectively and efficiently.
One of the platform’s key strengths was its ability to bring together the academic expertise of universities within a shared structure, Özvar said.
He added that the platform was not limited to university students. The initiative also aims to provide opportunities for people at different stages of education, from primary school to postgraduate studies, as well as working professionals and members of various occupational groups.
