Private dorms can’t house 2 pupils in one room: Ministry

ANKARA

Two students will no longer be able to stay in the same room, in line with the Education Ministry’s new regulation regarding private dormitories, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 23.

The reason for the new regulation is that authorities see two students staying together as “undesirable.” Therefore, rooms have to accommodate one or three, four, five or six students according to the head of the Private Student Dormitories Association Federation, Hüseyin Yıldızhan, who made the comments to the agency.

Accordingly, dormitories, boarding houses, studio houses and apartments used for the accommodation of secondary school and university students will no longer be able to operate without receiving the proper permission and license from the Education Ministry, in line with a decision published in the Official Gazette on May 6, Yıldızhan said. 

Issue of personnel

“A three-person room needs to be 24 square meters excluding bathroom and toilet premises. The current places need to be made to fit to this regulation. According to the new regulation, the places where students reside need to be at least 100 meters away from businesses selling alcohol, Turkish coffee houses [“kahvehane”] and entertainment centers from door to door. Otherwise, they cannot be licensed [to be regarded as a student accommodation],” he said.

Once the regulation is executed, control teams will be established by provincial directorates of national education and universities will be notified of which accommodations students are staying at, Yıldızhan noted.

Places that have obtained a license to provide student accommodation need to take the necessary actions to comply with the new regulations until 2019.

“Here especially, the issue of personnel is important. Male personnel at female dormitories and female personnel at male dormitories will not be employed. There are legal penalties,” he said.

The places that will provide student accommodation for the first time this year need to get their licenses and permission from the Education Ministry until Sept. 30, indicated Yıldızhan.

“Those who do not comply with this law and regulations will be identified by checks conducted throughout the year and will be shut down. Therefore, students will suffer. Because of this, as we are about to start the 2017-2018 education year, we want students, their parents and businesses that will provide these services to be informed of these rules,” he said.

‘Parents must check’

Yıldızhan also warned parents to check on whether accommodation centers have abided by the pre-set rules or not while enrolling their kids in these places.

“Otherwise they can suffer, as these places can close down. Therefore, they might have to move in the middle of the winter and be obliged to find housing or apartment dorms. Student accommodations need to be a certain size; necessary measures should be taken regarding their bathrooms and toilets, as well as fire safety and gas leakages precautions. They need to document these and get the licenses from the directorates of national education. After obtaining their license and permission, as long as they maintain the same conditions, they may serve the student and receive income,” Yıldızhan noted further.