Turkish universities to reopen starting on Oct 1
Turkey's Council of Higher Education (YÖK) has said that it asked universities to postpone their reopenings until Oct. 1 amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. The YÖK said that it will be up to universities and their faculties to decide if courses will be taught online or on campus.
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Turkey's Council of Higher Education (YÖK) said in a statement on Aug. 13 that it asked universities to start classes after Oct. 1 amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. The YÖK said that universities and their faculty departments will themselves decide if courses will be taught by distance learning or on campus.
"Asof today, we asked universities to plan their education calendarstarting on Oct. 1," the YÖK's statement said. "We havegiven universities a wide range of options to choose from in order tolower the number of students in campus and reduce their freemovement."
“Basedon the epidemic's regional and local course, our universities'relevant boards will decide on the implementations that will beundertaken for different programs,” the statement read.
Schoolsand universities across the country were closed in mid-March as partof measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
OnAug. 12, Education Minister Ziya Selçuk announced that schools willreopen on Aug. 31 with distance learning, but face-to-face lessonswill not resume until Sept. 21. Selçuk’s comments came after theHealth Ministry’s Coronavirus Science Committee suggested thatface-to-face lessons should be postponed for at least a month.
Last week Turkey rolled out new inspection and enforcement rules after daily new coronavirus cases jumped above 1,000 for the first time in three weeks, in what the government called a grave rise during peak holiday season.