Academics to give lectures at quake-hit universities

ANKARA

To ensure the normalization of education in the quake zone before the new school semester, academic staff from prestigious universities will give lectures in quake-hit provinces, Türkiye’s Higher Education Board (YÖK) member Prof. Dr. Ömer Açıkgöz announced.

Preparing to launch the “Mobile Teachers” project and speaking to the Parliament’s Earthquake Research Commission, Açıkgöz stated that they will enable professors from well-established universities such as Istanbul Technical University, Boğaziçi and Middle East Technical University to give lectures at universities in and around the disaster zone to contribute to education.

Incentives such as wage support will be provided to these academic staff.

Açıkgöz also noted that 1,605 students and 1,148 university staff have lost their lives in Feb. 6’s deadly earthquakes.

Emphasizing that distance education will continue in only two provinces, Açıkgöz stated that as of April 3, students in these provinces are able to attend face-to-face classes, yet attendance is not mandatory.

Renovation works have started at quake-hit universities and the aim is to fully transition to face-to-face education in southern provinces of Kahramanmaraş, Hatay and Adıyaman in September.

For education to go back to normal in the disaster zone, Açıkgöz made some requests to the Parliament, such as solving the housing and the classroom problem of administrative and academic staff with temporary containers and prefabricated houses.

Açıkgöz stated that the development appropriations for academic staff should be increased and new incentives should be introduced.

In addition, support packages including computers and network service for distance education should be provided to students.