CoHE Allows University Students to Suspend Their Studies and Postpone Enrollment
April 1, 2020 / Ankara
According to the new decision taken by the Council of Higher Education (CoHE), students, who study at associate degree, undergraduate and graduate levels, can suspend their studies for the spring term of the 2019-2020 academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic and have their thesis defenses and proficiency exams carried out through digital tools such as video conferencing, provided that they could be audited and “recorded”.
CoHE’s decision to suspend face-to-face teaching at universities in the spring term of the 2019-2020 academic year due to coronavirus (Covid-19) was reiterated in the communication sent to the Rector’s Offices of universities by the Council of Higher Education.
In this scope, classes will be taught through distance education, open education and digital teaching at universities, and universities will be authorized to conduct theoretical parts of the courses through distance education and digital teaching if they have the necessary technical infrastructure and competence.
According to the correspondence, some students who returned to their home countries due to the global pandemic stated that they had difficulty in acquiring internet access and computers and requested CoHE to resolve the issue regarding the courses they could not resume online.
The Council of Higher Education took some new decisions in the light of the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic after the spring term and the fact that some students were unable to resume their studies through distance education at the meeting held yesterday.
Accordingly, students at associate degree, undergraduate and graduate levels will be able to suspend their studies for the spring term of the 2019-2020 academic year. The period of suspension will not be included in the maximum period of study.
University administrative boards will decide if graduate students who are doing their thesis can continue their studies online or can suspend their studies by taking the opinion of thesis advisors.
Students, who are writing their theses and used up their maximum period of study, will be given additional time as much as the duration for the suspension of education.
- The impact of the pandemic will be taken into consideration in determining the exam dates
The impact of the pandemic and the conditions of students will be taken into consideration in determining the dates for thesis submission, thesis defense and proficiency exams.
Thesis defense and proficiency exams can be held through digital tools, provided that they are “carried out and recorded under auditable environments and conditions”, and students can also postpone them and suspend their studies.
CoHE's decisions will be limited to the spring term of the 2019-2020 academic year.