TÜBİTAK changes olympiad scoring system, penalizes private schools

Winning 18 medals, İzmir’s Yamanlar schools dominated the 22nd National Science Olympiad and the 19th National Mathematics Olympiad.(Photo: DHA)
Winning 18 medals, İzmir’s Yamanlar schools dominated the 22nd National Science Olympiad and the 19th National Mathematics Olympiad.(Photo: DHA)


Date posted: August 17, 2015

YAVUZ UĞURTAŞ/ SÜLEYMAN KAYHAN/ / ISTANBUL

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) has changed the scoring system it uses to evaluate student grades in science olympiads it sponsors, giving private schools a smaller coefficient and thereby placing students from these schools at a disadvantage.

Scores had previously been calculated using the same coefficient for both private and state schools.

The change in the calculation system became known after TÜBİTAK announced the results of the first phase of its 23rd National Science Olympiad on Sunday. Detailed results were posted, only to be removed later on. TÜBİTAK says the detailed results will again be available on Aug. 18. For the time being, only the highest and lowest scores are listed on the website.

The regulation, partially published on TÜBİTAK’s official website, introduced different coefficients for private and public school students.

Educators and students criticized the change for being in favor of state schools. A private school student who asked not to be named said: “What is TÜBİTAK trying to do by taking an interest in what type of school we went to? It should be an institution that encourages science. We have been preparing for this [olympiad] exam night and day. If it wasn’t for the change in coefficient, I would have proceeded to the second stage. Who will recompense all our efforts? We will not leave [those responsible] unpunished.”

Kurbani Kaya, a mathematics olympiad teacher at Denizli Servergazi College, says putting obstacles in front of successful students harms the country. “Turkey is represented internationally in the science olympiads. If successful students [from private schools] are blocked, the country will be represented by less successful teams of students. This situation seriously harms the country in the short and long run. It’s shameful for Turkey that this institution [TÜBİTAK] punishes successful students instead of encouraging them. I hope an end is put to this unlawfulness as soon as possible. It’s against the law and the Constitution,” Kaya added.

Zafer Şimşek, a mathematics olympiad teacher at Samanyolu College, also said that TÜBİTAK’s decision is political. “This decision is clearly political. All the recent changes in the education system are political. We will go to the judiciary. We cannot overlook such injustice.”

TÜBİTAK and many other institutions have experienced a number of government-orchestrated purges since a major corruption scandal broke on Dec. 17, 2013, implicating then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and several senior members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The purges within TÜBİTAK have since reached a level where the institution faces a serious risk of being unable to function properly. Former TÜBİTAK Vice President Hasan Palaz, who was fired on Feb. 21, 2014, for not obeying an order from “influential figures” to change a report in an investigation, said in June 2014 that over 250 engineers and scientists had been dismissed from the institution in two months.

While delivering a speech at the 22nd Consultation and Assessment Meeting of his AK Party in Afyonkarahisar, then-Prime Minister Erdoğan defended the purges of public officials, saying, “If reassigning individuals who betray this country is called a witch hunt, then yes, we will carry out this witch hunt,” in reference to members of the Gülen movement, popularly known as the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the teachings of the Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Erdoğan has accused the movement of a plot to overthrow his government, a claim the movement has repeatedly denied.

Source: Today's Zaman , August 16, 2015


Related News

Loyal depositors shoulder Turkey’s Bank Asya while political war rages

Selling everything from their sofas to their wedding rings, Bank Asya clients are battling to shore up the Turkish lender against what they say is a government-orchestrated bid to scuttle it.

Texans experience Turkish culture by volunteering

After helping to distribute charity Kimse Yok Mu’s (Is Anybody There) Eid al-Adha care packages to families in Turkey, four Americans travelling across the country shared their satisfying experiences with local Turkish families.

Formerly Gülen-linked schools in Albania face growing gov’t pressure

Several schools formerly run by the Gülen movement in Albania have been the subject of growing government pressure in recent weeks. On Oct. 28 the campus of the Turgut Özal School was raided by Albanian police without any court order or warrant, and excessive force was used in the presence of students.

Toward an Islamic enlightenment

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has put forward an interpretation of Islam that advocates peace, democracy, secularism (in the sense of freedom of religion and conscience for all), science, education and a market economy, and who has supported interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding and respect for people of different ethnic and religious identities and lifestyles, has been the topic of much curiosity for native as well as foreign observers of Turkey.

Parents of Afghan-Turk school students vow to defend school in Mazar-e Sharif to the end

The Parents’ Committee of an Afghan-Turk school held a press conference on Wednesday in the conference hall of Ariana Boys High School in Mazar-e Sharif and vowed to defend to the end the school against the attacks of the Turkish government.

Twitter user apologizes for Gülen ‘traitor’ insult, blames politicians

Nuray A., who called Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen a “traitor” in a Twitter post, told a court on Tuesday that she only used the expression after first hearing politicians use the word against Gülen, and apologized for imitating them.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

10 unanswered questions about the Dec. 17 operation

US Rep. Scott: Gülen movement cannot be designated as “terrorist organization”

Woman Detained At Hospital, Jailed With 3-Day-Old Baby In Turkey Over Alleged Gülen Links

Turkish schools behind Turkey’s soft power in Middle East

A perseverant Kurdish man at the Turkish school in Siberia

Gülen interview received high praise from intellectuals, NGOs, politicians

Beninese president: African relations imperative for Turkish power

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News