HIGHER EDUCATION POLICIES TOWARDS 2030

Prof. M. A. Yekta Saraç

April 2, 2021

As CoHE, we open new professional fields and programs at Turkish universities with the works we have been carrying out in cooperation with the sector in fields considered as future professions.

UNESCO will hold the third World Higher Education Conference in October 2021 in Barcelona. As a variety of working reports are created for the next decade in higher education by organizations such as the European University Association, the International Association of Universities, and the Network of Universities in Global Innovation, higher education after the pandemic is also discussed.

As the New Council of Higher Education (CoHE), we are working with 207 Turkish universities to train dynamic and talented generations that have a good grasp of the needs and truths of the society with many projects we have realized and started to get the results of in Turkey.

According to the data of the World Economic Forum, it is predicted that almost 1.7 million new lines of work will emerge in the 2030s. This transformation is a dynamic process that requires citizens, business people and decision makers to focus on the issue closely and quickly, along with its reflections on business life. As many professions disappear or transform with the increasing use of mobile internet, cloud technology, unmanned vehicles, nanotechnology and 3D printers in the business world, brand-new professions emerge.

As we approach 2030, digital technologies constitute one of the most important topics in higher education. The widespread use of digital technologies has caused almost half of the top 500 companies to disappear since 2000. It should be known that the effects of digital technologies have just started to be seen in the world.

​​​​​90 percent of current jobs in the world require information technology skills. Digital transformation has created 2 million new jobs in European countries over the last decade. Since 2005, data transfer between countries has increased by 45 times. In other words, shopping is now taking place through data. According to the academic studies in this field, the three areas most affected by automation technologies are globalization, digitalization, and the broader decentralization of the economy (economic atomization).

As CoHE, we open new professional fields and programs at Turkish universities with the works we have been carrying out in cooperation with the sector in fields considered as future professions. We attach special importance to doctoral studies. The YÖK 100/2000 Project, in which female students constitute 62 percent of around five thousand students, has started to produce graduates. There are currently over 100 thousand doctoral students at Turkish universities. We have set a strategic goal based on smart specialization by producing research and innovation-based studies in priority fields (such as robotics, cyber security, neuroscience, artificial intelligence and machine learning, network technologies [internet of things in 5G], smart and innovative materials) in doctoral programs.

As the New Council of Higher Education (CoHE), we are working with 207 Turkish universities to train dynamic and talented generations that have a good grasp of the needs and realities of the society with many projects we have realized and started to get the results of in Turkey.

When we take a look at the world, we see that the missions, objectives and teaching-learning methods of higher education institutions can vary according to geographical and historical contexts. Rapid developments and radical transformations in the world change our traditional structures and force us to develop new systems. The structures of higher education and universities are systematically affected by this change. The concept of development has been reshaped with the effect of globalization in our regions where development potentials could not be used sufficiently despite the large allocation of public funds in our country. A system that does not require spatial continuity, is determined by a network of relationships, open to international cooperation and in which local dynamics come to the fore as the driving force of economics and regional development is adopted as a "new regional development" approach. In this context, the "Specialization in Higher Education and Mission Differentiation Project", which we, as CoHE, started at five universities in 2016 by evaluating successful examples from the world, continue to be carried out in 15 Turkish universities today. Universities give direction to the projects for the development of the region where they are located by applying the model of working with public institutions and municipalities and local elements with studies designed under the titles such as specialization activities in health, agricultural and geothermal studies, the integrated development model differentiating in agriculture and animal husbandry, basin-based development, textile and ceramics, forestry and nature tourism.

According to the data of the World Economic Forum, it is predicted that almost 1.7 million new lines of work will emerge in the 2030s. This transformation is a dynamic process that requires citizens, business people and decision makers to focus on the issue closely and quickly, with its reflections on business life. As many professions disappear or transform with the increasing use of mobile internet, cloud technology, unmanned vehicles, nanotechnology and 3D printers in the business world, brand-new professions emerge.

The two trends that have developed in higher education over the past two decades were the increase of the rate of access to higher education and the development of the research-oriented university model that emerged with knowledge economy and international rankings. Access to higher education in the world, which was 17 percent in 1998 and 27 percent in 2008, reached 38 percent in 2018. The lowest rate in this field is in Sub-Saharan Africa with 5 percent. Turkey ranks first in Europe with the highest number of students accessing higher education with more than 8 million students.

The concept of "research university" is defined not only as an institution, but also as a model and an ideal. These universities are considered as the central institutions of the knowledge economy of the 21st century. Highly qualified academic staff, high quality in education, strong research opportunities, powerful fund sources, national and international talented students are defined as the general characteristics of research universities. According to the data of the QS World University Rankings for 2019, there are 1.011 research universities in the world. Of these, 40 percent are in Europe, 26 percent in Asia-Pacific, 18 percent in the USA and Canada, 9 percent in Latin America and 7 percent in the Middle East and Africa. The founding years of the top 10 universities in the rankings of research universities around the world correspond to the years between 1096 (Oxford University) and 1891 (California Institute of Technology).

The concept of "research university" was introduced to Turkish higher education by the New CoHE and 11 universities were selected as research universities following a year-long evaluation in 2017. Our country and state have high expectations from these universities. As the Council, we keep these universities, which are offered privileged support, under a serious academic follow-up.

As we approach 2030, digital technologies constitute one of the most important topics in higher education. The widespread use of digital technologies has caused almost half of the top 500 companies to disappear since 2000. It should be known that the effects of digital technologies have just started to be seen in the world. This important concept that will shape 2030 is the process of procuring new technologies, preparing the human resources that will use these technologies for digital transformation, and taking action. As these studies have been carried out, we have encountered with the COVID-19 pandemic that shook the world unexpectedly. The world had to go online with incredible speed. Traditional habits and concepts are shaken tremendously. CoHE launched a major project under the title of Digital Transformation in Higher Education in 2019, a year before the pandemic. 16 regional universities, which were established after 2006 and developed under relatively more difficult conditions, were selected as pilot universities. With this project, around 100 thousand students and 12 thousand academic staff received training on this subject through the programs of Learning and Teaching in the Digital Age. The project continues to be developed. During the pandemic, online learning continues without any major challenges at Turkish universities with the support of this project.

One of the most important topics of education in the 21st century is open science and open access. In 2019, we made it compulsory for Turkish universities to encourage these studies, which started in 2018. As included in the 11th Development Plan of our Government, it is aimed to ensure compliance with open access infrastructures in order for universities to keep up with the digital age and to implement open access and open science applications in access to knowledge. As of 2021, open academic archives were established at 158 universities.

We initiated the structure that the European Union put into practice as twinning projects in education and research under the name of YÖK Anatolia Project in 2021. Newly-established, younger universities and established universities (12 established universities – 15 young universities) were matched up on the basis of protocols. This project, which is under the auspices of the President, also supports social justice and equality of opportunity, which are the basic principles of the New Council of Higher Education.

In addition to the concept of “theme”, another important change of this century is the education that can offer multi-faceted skills as a new concept. At universities, it is recommended to go beyond the boundaries of campuses, to establish networks with corporate stakeholders and to train well-rounded students in order to acquire the skills necessary for the future. As education is diversified, skills will gain flexibility. Diversification of knowledge and skills will be useful in developing appropriate strategies for problems that have never been encountered before. This concept that represents a modern and new tendency in global higher education, in fact, corresponds to our traditional education philosophy. As we introduce higher education policies, we attach importance to ensuring local and global balances. The global world needs individuals who are responsible, talented, able to serve the public, but at the same time grew up with respect for all the values of being human.

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