Prof. Muhsin Kar, THEQC President, Gives a Speech on ”Quality Assurance in Higher Education” at Cukurova University

ADANA – Prof. Muhsin Kar, President of the Turkish Higher Education Quality Council (THEQC), was the guest of Cukurova University (CU) to speak on “Internationalization in Higher Education.”

Prof. Meryem Tuncel, CU Rector; Prof. Hayri Levent Yılmaz, Prof. İlter Ünlükaplan, and Prof. Neslihan Boyan, CU Vice-Rectors; deans, directors and secretaries from faculties/graduate schools, coordination offices, and department and unit quality teams attended the conference organised by CU Quality Coordination Office at Mithat Özsan Lecture Hall.

Giving detailed information on the concept of quality, stakeholders’ perspective on quality, quality assurance in higher education, the objectives of quality assurance, quality assurance systems, the quality assurance framework of THEQC, and the activities of THEQC, President Kar stated that the goal of quality assurance in higher education is to increase students’ employability, accelerate their transition from university to work, and shorten this process as much as possible.

“Quality assurance is of key importance for helping students gain 21st-century competencies”

Pointing out that the quality assurance system aims to contribute to the country’s national development, President Kar said, “Quality assurance contributes to learning and teaching, R&D and service to society activities by increasing access to higher education. In this way, the activities carried out at universities are reflected in the society.” President Kar continued his words as follows, “It is not enough to provide students with field-specific education only. In addition, we should definitely equip students with 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, analytical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, flexible working, and self-expression. Quality assurance is of key importance for doing this.” Expressing that in addition to these competencies, students should be educated in a responsible way towards the society for the areas where they interact with society, Kar said, “Necessary importance should be attached to helping students gain a system of values. Values should be integrated into academic programs and management practices and be supported by curricular and extra-curricular activities. On the other hand, these should be handled with a holistic approach, not as a lecture. The use of technology and adaptation to the information revolution need to be supported. The pandemic period has proven that it will be very important for graduate students to keep up with technological developments in the coming years. On the other hand, quality assurance aims to target excellence, develop the threshold value for excellence, disseminate good practice examples, and institutionalise continuous improvement.”

“Universities should develop a model that suits their needs”

Stating that THEQC evaluates universities with criteria that interact with the international standards and are compatible with them but specific to Turkey, President Kar added that THEQC expects universities to adopt their own needs and put forward a model that suits their needs and that they need a mentality change about ‘student-centered education’.