Republic of turkey

8. STRATEGIC SELECTIONS ABOUT QUALITY ASSURANCE IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

Important steps about assessing and improving the quality level of higher education institutions in a national framework have been taken with a process triggered by the “Regulations Concerning the Quality Assessment and Improvement in Higher Education Institutions.” In this context, the higher education institutions prepare assessments for their own institutions every year in the framework of the processes which the Commission for Academic Assessment and Quality Improvement has determined. As a result of these assessments, “Academic Assessment and Quality Improvement Reports” are prepared and an institutional and national assessment system will be constituted. However, although the regulations include the matters concerning the external assessment process which is one of the most important issues of quality assurance subject of higher education, no institutional or unit programs which could make external assessment in higher education institutions have been constructed yet. Therefore, by taking into consideration of the features of the higher education system and principles and the standards foreseen within the Bologna process it is needed to have some legal organizations, which encourage the formation of such independent institutions.

The new organizations in this respect are thought very important in terms of the summarized advices below, the development of the quality level of the higher institutions and for the struggles of the guarantee of the services.

• In order that the Commission for Academic Assessment and Quality Improvement at higher education institutions continue its mission efficiently and effectively, the commission has to possess a legal structure, which is responsible for the organizations in this area.

• Within the principles and the standards, which are expressed by the related public act and The Commission for Academic Assessment and Quality Improvement at higher education institutions, the higher education institutions have to constitute independent structures, which enable them to realize evaluations within all these institutions. This constitution can be thought as a national quality agency or it can encourage the private organizations to display activities in these areas.

• The formation of institutions such as Engineers Evaluation Board (EEB), which can make external evaluation on the basis of unit/sub-unit should be encouraged in other science/ occupation areas and be run in a legal structure. The institutions to be formed within this respect should be encouraged to continue as they have got significant roles in describing the qualification framework and the guarantee of external quality in certain occupations.

9. ORGANIZATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY, SUPERVISION AND DISCIPLINE LAW

Most of the strategic choices in the ethical area, in life culture area, and within the type of inspection in higher education, will be applied when the university adopts them all. The application of these does not have any legal sanctions. In this respect, they will gain validity as long as they become the moral values accepted by the society. However, in order to realize any specific part, new legal organizations are needed. So, the organizations to be realized have gained strategic importance. These have been mentioned below in a very broad sense.

•The basic principles and laws related to the organizations in higher education about responsibility, supervision and discipline laws have been taken place in constitution. In the 26^th article of the constitution “the freedom of expressing and publishing the ideas”, in the 27^th article, “freedom of science and art”, in the 130^th article, the principles and rules are directly related with the higher educations” are all related with the 129^th article of the constitution “ the job and the responsibilities of the civil servants and the other public workers and the assurances in disciplinary prosecutions.

In fact, the constitution gives the freedom of expressing and the publishing of ideas in the first article of the 26^th item; whereas, in the second article there is some limitations such as “to protect the main qualifications of the Republic and the inseparable wholeness of the country and the nationality.

Similarly, the first article of the 27^th item gives the right to learn, to teach, express and publish and the right to search in these areas and in the second article, there is a limitation in using

The restriction of “the right of propagation can not be used to make changes of the items 1. 2. and 3 (the qualities of the republic and wholeness of the state) in the constitution.” was brought.

Likewise, the constitution in its law number 130 defines the higher institutions as “the institutions that have public legal entity and scientific self-administration” and it also states that “universities and the member of the universities and their assistants can independently do scientific researches and publish them” but in the same item the entering: “ this authorization does not give the freedom of acting against the presence of the state and its independence and the integrity and dissociation of the country and the nation” was stated. When. : “ the necessities of civil servants and other public officers’ being loyal to the constitution and its items” in the item 129 is also added, it can be easily seen that the constitution does not enrol the right of doing scientific research and publishing it at higher education institutions, the acts that spoil the essential qualities of the republic and inseparability of the country and the nation unity.

The law No. 2547 on Higher Education includes new limitations and registrations which are beyond the constitutional law in items 5 which arranges major principles, and 53 which arranges “discipline and punishment” affairs, and as well as item 54, in terms of education, scientific research and publication activities.

Founded on the grounds of this law “Higher Education Institutions, Manager, regulations of the discipline of instructors and officers” and “Higher Education Institutions, regulations of students’ discipline” embraces limitations and registrations which are beyond the Law number 2547, the law of Higher Education referring to instructors, officers and students. In this point today, it could be argued that the reason for law number 2547’s being more restrictive when compared to constitutional law and mentioned regulations is that the adjustments in the constitutional law especially those made in 2001 and liberalization in the constitutional law were not reflected to current laws and regulations.

Therefore, what is to be done first is that liberalization in the constitutional law should be reflected to law number 2547, as well.

In that point the law number of 2547’s item 53’s c(7) and in (a) article of item 54 abstract and indefinite issues should be sorted out so that they can be parallel to the constitution.

In this respect, the item 53’s (c) article of the law can be arranged in this way:

The issue above can not be applied in certain situations: basic rights and independences that are in the constitution, the inseparability of the country and national unity or the discrimination based on language, race, class, religion, religious cult, the qualities that are described in the constitution the crimes that are aimed to abolish the republic, and related crimes that are required heavy punishments. In these conditions, public prosecutor does the prosecution directly.

• 
  Likewise, 54 (a) article of the Law can be harmonized as follows:
  

“The students who directly or indirectly restrain the education and learning freedom in or out of the Higher Education Institutions; who participate in or encourage or provoke the activities which disturb the working order of the institutions or prevent the education and learning; who cheat or help the others cheat in the examinations or make plagiarism in their thesis or dissertations or assignments; who attack honour or personal dignities or private affairs of the personnel of Higher Education; who partake in terrorist activities or encourage or provoke these activities; even if the activity in question is pertinent to another crime are given the punishments of warning, condemnation, suspension from the institution for one week to one month or for one or two terms or permanent suspension from YÖK.”

• In the wake of these amendments in Law no 2547, the related regulations mentioned above should be harmonized again in accordance with the liberation done in the Law.

In addition to that, it is necessary to point out for the administrators, clerks, academic personnel that the special interrogation style due to the crimes they commit related to their duties which is issued with 53. Article of Higher Education Law no 2547 is for their benefit and constitutionally mandatory. With its 129^th article, on the one hand the constitution brings about the obligation of “loyalty to Constitution and laws”, but on the other hand naturally it provides a security for the clerks and public workers in acknowledgement of these obligations while they are fulfilling their duty. This security is to depend beginning a legal investigation owing to the duty crimes which the clerks and other public personnel are claimed to have committed upon the permission of the institution in which they work. In other words, penal prosecutions pertaining to the crimes which clerks and other public personnel are claimed to have committed related to their duties are made by the administrative institution in which they work, not by the public prosecutor. This kind of special investigation style for the clerks has two purposes. First of them is that which deeds are duty crimes can be determined best by the administration of the institution in which the allegedly criminal clerk works; the second is to prevent his or her behaving in a timid way by being accused whilst doing his job. These two purposes are exactly necessary before all else for the Higher Education administrators, academic personnel and clerks who work in the status of clerk or public personnel. Besides, in accordance with no 130 article of the Constitution, when the scientific autonomy of the Higher Education institutions is taken into consideration, these purposes are indispensable above necessity. Consequently, the special interrogation style issued in the 53^rd article of Higher Education Law no 2547 is a constitutional obligation provided by the articles no 129 and 130 of the Constitution.

• Student and Register Forgiveness; From the point of the fact that the Higher Education institutions are useful institutions which lead the society in various ways, the register forgiveness which blocks the dissuasiveness of punishments should be completely taken out of the agenda at the outset. Likewise, the fact that the student forgiveness is a kind of unacceptable political intervention into the academic life should be taken into consideration and the idea that the assessment relating with the academic success of the students can only be made by the higher education institutions should be adopted.