TRNC to decide how many students can come in the 2020-2021 academic year

TRNC Prime Minister, Ersin Tatar met with university officials on Wednesday to discuss measures to be taken for the new academic year that will begin in higher education.

Minister of National Education and Culture Nazım Çavuşoğlu, President of YÖDAK Prof. Dr. Akile Büke, university rectors and and representatives of airline companies operating in the TRNC were in attendance.

How much of the education will be conducted online and how much will be handled face to face were discussed and evaluated in meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Ersin Tatar said that their goal was to draw a roadmap to determine how many of the university students will be returning for the 2020-2021 academic year, when they will return and where they will stay.

We managed and are continuing to manage the pandemic well compared to other countries, said Tatar, reminding that the public’s health continued to be the government’s top priority.

Tatar said that they were not considering reintroducing quarantine requirements and highlighted the importance of being able to manage the situation by drawing risks to a minimum.

Tatar pointed out that the government has been working intensively on the pandemic for about 6 months and emphasized that the government's priority is the health of the people and society, despite economic responsibilities.

He pointed out that higher education institutions, one of the most important sectors of the country, will exchange views with university officials on how manage the new period. 

Minister of National Education and Culture Nazım Çavuşoğlu pointed out that they are working in consultation with universities as a ministry and stated that the studies are being carried out in during the pandemic process.

Çavuşoğlu said that there was an expectation from the government to provide accommodation and create the necessary quarantine conditions for returning students.

This is not a realistic expectation. Everyone needs to shoulder responsibility, he said, adding that the government supported the idea of having as many students return as possible.

YÖDAK President Prof. Dr. Akile Büke thanked for the meeting and mentioned the work done by universities during the pandemic process.

Pointing out that universities have made significant progress in terms of accreditation in this process, Büke emphasized that YÖDAK also supervises the trainings provided by universities.

Stressing that there are serious problems and concerns about the arrival of students in the upcoming period, Büke pointed out the importance of working together to plan the process so that students can come to the island in a healthy and safe way and continue their education.

Emphasizing that the measures to be taken by the government in this regard are very important, Büke added that the measures to be taken through the Ministry of Health Scientific Committee and the construction of the pandemic hospital as soon as possible.