YÖK is a body of political tutelage and has nothing to do with higher education, established to expand the rule of martial law to the universities.

Lately, I have been thinking that we have been seeing issues from the wrong angle. At the old street fairs, pickpockets would distract people by saying things like “hey, look at that acrobat: he's about to fall down!” and then would pick your wallet. Just like that, decoys are being used to distract us. It is, however, better to look after your wallet in the crowd.

Today, I will try to explain to you my dislike of the Higher Education Council of Turkey (YÖK). My displeasure with YÖK is not recent; I have not been a big fan since its inception after the military coup of 1980. I have some examples for you, too: in 1995, 20 percent of Turkey’s young people enrolled in universities, compared to 40 percent in Korea. Today, Turkey has increased the rate to a meager 40 percent, while the rate in Korea has reached 70 percent. By the way, please not that productivity per worker is around 30 percent higher in Korea than in Turkey. In the light of these statistics, let me explain to you the dissimilarity of the mindsets and the gap in university enrollment figures. So let’s get started.

YÖK has worked to place more students in Turkey’s universities for as long as I can remember. It has endeavored to remove the exam-based placements system and find another solution with purely good intentions. And it is evidently a good thing that the university enrollment rate has doubled from 1995 to today. Yet, we know that Korea has done better and has raised the rate to 70 percent. How has Korea succeeded and why has Turkey been not as successful?

Let’s start with Turkey. Our tertiary education strategy is based on oppressing university administrations and trying to solve problems forcibly. We make rectors wait at the doors of some men with ties. When they ask for funds or staff, we senselessly ask them to increase placement levels in exchange. We do our best to spread squatter-like, low-quality universities. We never ever deal with trivial issues like wages and the quality of academic personnel. And we take the pot luck. But let me tell you, this does not work. It is not helping Turkey to keep pace with the world.

So what does Korea do differently? For starters, the structure of tertiary education finance is completely different from that in Turkey. In Turkey, 95 percent of the cost is borne by the state, whereas in Korea, 75 percent of the cost is financed by the student, via student loans. The state runs a large loan guarantee agency so as to support the financially disadvantages completely or partially to make sure that no one is left behind. Student loans are administered by regular financial banks, which also reinvest the loans in securities. The financial system works for the education system. Everyone minds their own business, which in the end cultivates good results.

Here in Turkey, however, we are trying to expand placement levels using the wrong incentives. At the end of the day, the incentive system does not work. In Korea, on the other hand, the demand side is strengthened with a solid loan mechanism. Demand creates its own supply. Universities have the authority to design their internal incentive mechanisms. Korean universities are more autonomous than their Turkish counterparts. The innovation performance of the country improves as the state of siege at its universities tails off. I recommend that you read a report by TEPAV researchers Selin Arslanhan and Yaprak Kurtsal. The student loan system not only enables more students access to tertiary education, but also improves the quality of universities.

I believe that we are seeking solutions to our problems in the wrong place. YÖK is a body of political tutelage and has nothing to do with higher education. It is the apex of bureaucracy, once established to expand the rule of martial law to the universities. Now the state of siege is over, but the guard is still on call. Hence, it continues to act in the only way it knows how. As a mechanism of military tutelage, it acts as if every single problem can be solved by directive. It knows the best which course must be taught in which program. It dares to interfere in salary and scholarship decisions of foundation universities, and rejects the proposals of universities to open new programs. It’s in a way like Kenan Pasha, the architect of the 1980 coup. It is the tool of that mentality, as pathetic and as inconsiderate.

Certain issues cannot be dealt with by command. Placement levels at universities or education quality cannot be increased simply by command. Democracy does not develop on order overnight. Quality cannot be improved unless a functional system that has been considered for at least fifteen minutes is designed together with the correct incentives that will help the system renew itself. Otherwise, it is nothing but a waste of energy.

I have two observations for you: First, YÖK is a lost cause, and martial law is not what Turkey needs to keep up with the world. The YÖK issue must definitely be handled in the first democratization scheme. Second, waste is a sin. So please, stop wasting our time.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 04.10.2013