Istanbul-based Today’s Zaman of 3 August 2008 carries an article signed by Ş. Kulu concerning the increasing popularity of summer programs. Overall, the situation in Turkey doesn’t seem to be different from what we have elsewhere. My comments in []. Summarized excerpts:
Numerous universities in Turkey offer courses for their students in the summer months. Although some students find it torturous to bear sweltering heat along with intensive courses, summer school is regarded as a savior for most students who either want to pass their classes or shorten their time at university.
High registration fees, on the other hand, give the students a reason to think twice. When summer heats up, most people flock to holiday spots to take a break from the exhaustion of city life, but thousands of university students around Turkey continue to struggle with midterms, finals and papers while facing the scorching temperatures. Almost every university in Turkey, private or public, offers its students the opportunity to attend summer school.
What makes summer school attractive is still a matter of debate on university campuses. It is seen as another chance by most university students: Students who failed the courses they took in the spring or fall terms get the chance to retake these courses in around 8 weeks. It is also an important factor that courses taken in the summer are believed to be "easier to pass" by most students since the courses are compacted within a shorter period of time without leaving the instructors enough time to "overload" students with papers, quizzes and homework.
Apart from the students who repeat the courses they failed, many students prefer summer school just to increase their GPAs [grade point averages] by repeating the courses they have already passed (with Ds, Cs or even Bs).
Summer school is also an alternative for students who do not want to waste their time with a 3-month summer holiday. A student says; “It is worth going to school for six weeks in the summer instead of taking the same course for four months".
The other beneficiaries of summer school are those who are trying to find ways to fulfill their credit requirements before their final semester and those who want to graduate early. Having attended 3 summer terms at Boğaziçi, a student thinks that although instructors teach the courses in the same way as during the year, they are more merciful in the summer term and give relatively high marks.
Some students, however, find summer school useless and just another means of torture for students who were unable to pass their courses. They offer another way to save those students: the "make-up examination" system. Held just after the finals for failed students, make-up examinations used to be offered by more universities in the past instead of summer schools [In Armenia, make-up exams remain the only option for students. When will our HEIs replace make-up exams with summer courses to boost their revenues?]. According to a recent graduate of Istanbul Technical University, it is better to give the student a second chance with make-up exams without obliging him or her to attend a course s/he has already taken. "I don't think that courses taken during the summer term are as efficient as those taken in the fall or spring terms. They are very small because they are squeezed into six to seven weeks, leaving many students to cram and subsequently forget all the subject matter." Summer school does have one advantage over make-up exams, he says.
The most debate-generating issue about summer school is the high tuition. The only university whose summer school used to be free, Istanbul University, also decided to charge students tuition this year. The fees are generally tied to the number of units a course has. The amount per credit varies from 30-60 YTL [25-50 USD ?].
Apart from this, a fixed registration fee is required. The amount varies at private universities. For example, at Fatih University the cost is 250 YTL [215 USD] per credit regardless of the department offering the course. Although the total cost of a course, at least 90 YTL, is seen as a heavy burden on a student budget, the advantages of summer school seem to surpass the financial burden it brings. Noting that 3 summer terms cost her a total 1,000 YTL, a student says, "It is worth paying this amount, I think, since 1,000 YTL is supposed to be only a month's salary that I will earn in the future."
To read the article, please click here.
Numerous universities in Turkey offer courses for their students in the summer months. Although some students find it torturous to bear sweltering heat along with intensive courses, summer school is regarded as a savior for most students who either want to pass their classes or shorten their time at university.
High registration fees, on the other hand, give the students a reason to think twice. When summer heats up, most people flock to holiday spots to take a break from the exhaustion of city life, but thousands of university students around Turkey continue to struggle with midterms, finals and papers while facing the scorching temperatures. Almost every university in Turkey, private or public, offers its students the opportunity to attend summer school.
What makes summer school attractive is still a matter of debate on university campuses. It is seen as another chance by most university students: Students who failed the courses they took in the spring or fall terms get the chance to retake these courses in around 8 weeks. It is also an important factor that courses taken in the summer are believed to be "easier to pass" by most students since the courses are compacted within a shorter period of time without leaving the instructors enough time to "overload" students with papers, quizzes and homework.
Apart from the students who repeat the courses they failed, many students prefer summer school just to increase their GPAs [grade point averages] by repeating the courses they have already passed (with Ds, Cs or even Bs).
Summer school is also an alternative for students who do not want to waste their time with a 3-month summer holiday. A student says; “It is worth going to school for six weeks in the summer instead of taking the same course for four months".
The other beneficiaries of summer school are those who are trying to find ways to fulfill their credit requirements before their final semester and those who want to graduate early. Having attended 3 summer terms at Boğaziçi, a student thinks that although instructors teach the courses in the same way as during the year, they are more merciful in the summer term and give relatively high marks.
Some students, however, find summer school useless and just another means of torture for students who were unable to pass their courses. They offer another way to save those students: the "make-up examination" system. Held just after the finals for failed students, make-up examinations used to be offered by more universities in the past instead of summer schools [In Armenia, make-up exams remain the only option for students. When will our HEIs replace make-up exams with summer courses to boost their revenues?]. According to a recent graduate of Istanbul Technical University, it is better to give the student a second chance with make-up exams without obliging him or her to attend a course s/he has already taken. "I don't think that courses taken during the summer term are as efficient as those taken in the fall or spring terms. They are very small because they are squeezed into six to seven weeks, leaving many students to cram and subsequently forget all the subject matter." Summer school does have one advantage over make-up exams, he says.
The most debate-generating issue about summer school is the high tuition. The only university whose summer school used to be free, Istanbul University, also decided to charge students tuition this year. The fees are generally tied to the number of units a course has. The amount per credit varies from 30-60 YTL [25-50 USD ?].
Apart from this, a fixed registration fee is required. The amount varies at private universities. For example, at Fatih University the cost is 250 YTL [215 USD] per credit regardless of the department offering the course. Although the total cost of a course, at least 90 YTL, is seen as a heavy burden on a student budget, the advantages of summer school seem to surpass the financial burden it brings. Noting that 3 summer terms cost her a total 1,000 YTL, a student says, "It is worth paying this amount, I think, since 1,000 YTL is supposed to be only a month's salary that I will earn in the future."
To read the article, please click here.
