Conditions for student amnesty are becoming clear
Students who have left their university education unfinished will have the opportunity to return to their schools with a new legislative proposal. Important details regarding the scope of the amnesty and application conditions are becoming clear.
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Details of the student amnesty regulation have begun to emerge in the Higher Education Law proposal, which has been prepared for the new term and contains a total of 30 articles. According to information obtained, it is planned to grant re-enrollment rights to students whose relationship with their university was severed after July 1, 2022.
According to a report by the pro-government Türkiye Gazetesi, an important condition included in the proposal is that associate and undergraduate students applying for the amnesty must have completed at least half of the education period in their respective programs. For example, for students studying in a four-year undergraduate program, this means the requirement of having completed at least two years, or four semesters. To benefit from the amnesty, students' academic success status or absenteeism will not be taken into account; only the period they were actively registered in the system will be considered.
For those in postgraduate education, students who left at the thesis stage, had their thesis rejected, or abandoned the program may also be included in the scope of the amnesty. Work on various alternative models for former students in this group is ongoing.
The final version of the regulation will be clarified as a result of evaluations to be made by the relevant institutions. The goal is both to expand the scope of the right to education and to make the system more effective by simplifying the processes accumulated in universities.
DIFFERENT REGULATIONS ARE ALSO COMING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The legislative proposal also includes various articles to grant additional rights to students. It is envisaged that students at the graduation stage who have completed their maximum period of study will be granted two additional exam rights for courses they have failed or have not yet taken. Furthermore, those who have not been able to complete applied courses or internship processes will be offered the opportunity to make up for their deficiencies. However, these opportunities will only cover final-year students; intermediate-year students will not be able to benefit from these rights.
Incentive payments for students participating in production processes, subject to a certain limit, have also been taken into consideration. However, these payments will not result in students being considered workers or insured employees.
Foreign nationals receiving specialty training in medicine and dentistry will be able to receive additional payments from the revolving fund in line with Constitutional Court decisions. The rate of these payments will vary according to the level of contribution, and only stamp duty will be applied as a deduction.
As discussions and technical work regarding the Higher Education Law proposal near their conclusion, the student amnesty and other regulations are expected to be submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).