How Voluntary Organisations Can Solve the Problems of International Students: Examples of Turkey

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Rahmat Ullah1

Abstract. Turkey is becoming a centre of higher education to the students of developing countries. In the 2015-2016 academic year, the number of international students in Turkey was 87,903 and they were from 181 countries. However, the management of this increasing number of foreign students is very difficult for the government agencies. In this context, a large number of voluntary organisations have formed at the local level and working with the international students. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of the voluntary organisations in the management of the problems of the international students in Turkey. Data were collected from 40 non-scholarship international students through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The respondents were from Asia, Africa and Europe and enrolled in different universities of the big cities of Turkey like Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Konya and Trabzon. They were asked about different kinds of problems that were they facing and the nature of support of the voluntary organisations towards them. Results show that the international students faced socio-cultural, economic, administrative and academic problems, while voluntary organisations played important roles by providing dormitories, student houses, legal supports, scholarships, language courses, food supports as well as other supports when students need.

Keywords: International Students, Problems, Turkey, Voluntary Organisations.

1 * Ph. D. Candidate, Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations, 61080, Trabzon, Turkey, [email protected] How Voluntary Organisations Can Solve the Problems of International Students: Examples of Turkey

1. Introduction

Turkey has broadly opened its door for international students after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has started the Great Student Exchange Project in 1992 to form strong cultural ties with Central Asia, the Caucasia and Balkan countries by funding graduate students. The main objective of this project was to establish relations between Turkey and the related communities in various areas including culture, education and science2.

The specific goals of this were to increase the educational level of the Turkic Republics and Turkic communities; to create a generation familiar with and sympathetic to Turkish culture; to meet the need for trained manpower in these republics and communities and to establish a permanent bridge of brotherhood and friendship with the Turkic world3. In the academic year of 1992-1993 Turkey offered 10,000 education scholarships to the students from Turkic Republics and Turkic communities and 1000 for the Eurasian students. Almost 38,407 scholarships were allocated to students from the Turkic Republics and Turkic communities between the years 1992 and 20084.

Turkey has taken different initiatives for internationalising of its higher education. Government authorities, including the Presidents and Prime ministers of Turkey, has been giving importance of internationalisation by underlining academic, institutional and economic imperatives. Attracting more full-fee-paying international students including a number of government scholarships has recently become a crucial part of Turkey’s internationalisation agenda5. As Turkey broadens the focus of its internationalisation agenda the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) was established in 2010 to update education policies6.

In addition, various structural, executive and legislative arrangements have been introduced. In 2010, the coordinating body of the higher education system revoked the central placement exam namely Foreign Student Exam or YÖS that international students were required to take for admission to higher education institutions in Turkey. Universities have rights to determine its own placement criteria and to place international students on its own. They are taking Foreign Student Exam in different countries. Moreover, the higher education authority emphasised to establish a well-functioning international student office in the universities. Furthermore, the Ministry of Trade took steps to support and continues to encourage the international marketing of higher education institutions providing half of all the transportation, accommodation and advertising expenses universities for their marketing efforts abroad7.

Turkey Scholarship authority and higher education institutions attend international education fairs and exhibitions. Since 2012 Turkey Scholarship, has been used by the presidency to organise and finance international education in Turkey. It is giving various scholarships at undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. At undergraduate level government have some scholarships on the basis of regions like Turkic Speaking Countries Scholarship Program, Balkans Scholarship Program, Black Sea Scholarship Program, Harran Scholarship Program, Turkey- Africa Scholarship Program, and Bosporus Scholarship Program. Ali Kuscu Science and Technology Scholarship and Ibni Haldun Social Sciences Scholarship for the graduate level non-Turkish student from all over the world.

2 Cennet Engin-Demir, Educational Policies of Turkey on Turkic Republics and Turkic Communities: The Great Student Exchange Project, NNRRAG-NN45, Geneva, Switzerland, 2011, pp. 93-95.

3 Pınar Akçalı and Cennet Engin-Demir, Turkey’s Educational Policies in Central Asia and Caucasia: Perceptions of Policy Makers and Experts, International Journal of Educational Development, 32 (1), 2012, pp.11-21. 4 Ibid. 5 Murat Özoğlu, Bekir S. Gür and İpek Coşkun, Factors influencing international students’ choice to study in Turkey and challenges they experience in Turkey. Research in Comparative and International Education, 10(2), 2015, pp. 1-15. 6 Farkhad Alimukhamedov, Türkiye’ye Uluslararası Öğrenci Göçünün Analizi, Bilge Strateji, 7(12), 2015, pp. 117-132. 7 Murat Özoğlu, Bekir S. Gür and İpek Coşkun, ibid.

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Besides, Ibni Sina Medical Sciences Scholarship Program for the undergraduate degree, Yunus Emre Turkish Language Scholarship, Islamic Studies Scholarship, Sports Scholarship and Arts Scholarship Program for all levels. Furthermore, Short Term Scholarships like Turkish Language Program for Public Officials and Academicians, Research Scholarships for PhD level are the popular scholarship schemes for the international students8.

Non-scholarship students also receive attention from the Turkish government program. They are monitored and supported by the projects designed for international students such as Success Scholarship and Support Scholarship Program for enrolled international students in Turkey. Besides, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and Turkey Diyanet Foundation provide undergraduate, graduate and post- graduate level scholarships to the international students. In addition to these scholarships, universities and nongovernmental organisations have some scholarship schemes for the international students.

Many foundations and some state universities offer merit scholarships to those who have outstanding academic backgrounds. Merit scholarships usually cover tuition fees; living costs through a ten-month stipend; and dormitory accommodation fees. Some universities provide additional sources of funding like partial scholarships, such as the Academic Success Scholarship. Almost all foundation universities offer partial scholarships, which depend on the academic merits of the applicant and cover between 20% and 70% of the total tuition fees9. Besides, increasing number of universities, quality education, fewer tuition fees, a big number of seats for the international students and organised dormitory systems made Turkey a hub for international students. As a part of its national policy, Turkey is planning to increase this number to 200,000 by 202310.

2.1 Methodology

The purpose of the study was to identify the role of the voluntary organisations in the management of the problems of the international students in Turkey. Research work was conducted using a qualitative research method. Data were collected from 40 non-scholarship international students through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Convenience sampling was chosen on the basis of their availability and willingness to respond. The content analysis of the semi-interviews was transferred to frequencies by identifying the common issues. The respondents were from Asia, Africa and Europe and enrolled in different universities of the big cities of Turkey like Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Konya and Trabzon. The male participates were 72.5% and female participants were 27.5%, 65% had undergraduate degrees, 22.5% had master’s degrees, and 12.5% had a PhD degree.

2.2 International Students in Turkey

Turkey has become one of the main destinations of international students in the Middle East region. In the 2015-2016 academic year, the number of international students in Turkey’s higher education sectors was 87,903 and they were from 181 countries. Newly admitted students were 23,614 in that academic year. The neighbour Azerbaijan has the largest number of students in Turkey, followed by Turkmenistan and Syria11.

8 Turkiyeburslari, Scholarship Programs, https://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/ 9 Studyinturkey , Financial Aid & Scholarships, www.studyinturkey.com 10 Hürriyet, Yabancı öğrenci sayısı yüzde 182 arttı, www.hurriyet.com.tr/ 11 Council of Higher Education (YÖK), 2015-2016 Öğretim Yılı Yükseköğretim İstatistikleri, www.yok.gov.tr

3 How Voluntary Organisations Can Solve the Problems of International Students: Examples of Turkey

Figure 1. The number of international students in Turkey in the 2015-2016 academic year by country.

Source: Extracted from YÖK database

The number of students from Africa, Balkan and different countries of Asia is increasing day by day. A record number of 122,000 applications from 175 countries have been filed in 2016 for Turkish government scholarship. International students prefer Turkey for the governmental and nongovernmental scholarships. Besides, simple tuition fee, working opportunities after graduation and easy migration policy and visa system were another determining factors. Furthermore, standard academic environment comparing neighbouring countries, the exchange program with different universities in Europe and Asia, various courses in the universities, geographical and cultural proximity were other important factors as well12.

It is undeniable that the scholarships granted by the Turkish government are an important attractive factor to the international students, who came to Turkey. However, most of the students who come to Turkey to receive higher education are studying with their won expenses and by the support of the non-state actors of Turkey13. Therefore, the share of non-state actors in Turkey’s international student potential can’t be ignored.

2.3 Challenges Faced by International Students in Turkey

International students who are involved in the international arena for education faced many problems like language, academic, economic, social, cultural and psychological as well as adaptation problems. International students in Turkey were also faced different problems as they stated in the interview.

12 Ali Zafer Sağıroğlu, Dünyada Ve Türkiye’de Uluslararası Öğrenci Trendleri, International Student Symposium Book 2015, UDEF, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 33-43 13 Farkhad Alimukhamedov, ibid.

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Table 1. Problems faced by international students in Turkey.

No Problems Percentage 01 Language problems 95.0 02 Academic language problems 70.0 03 Problems faced in immigration centre 82.5 04 Health insurance-health related problems 70.0 05 No guide at the first days 67.5 06 Financial problem 77.5 07 Dormitory problem 57.5 08 Missing own foods 100.0 09 Missing home 100.0 10 Treating as a foreigner 70.0 11 Transportation problem 82.5 12 House rents or seat problem 90.0 13 Adaptation problem 65.0 14 Lack of extra educational supports 47.5 15 Lack of social activities 80.0 16 Lack of sportive activities 55.0 17 Non-functional international students office 72.5

Communication language is the main problem for the students who came to Turkey first time. They cannot express, do not know where they will go and who guide them. The students’ communication difficulties arise in the hospital, dormitory, community, university, immigration centre and other activities14.

Besides, since academic Turkish is not taught in Turkish language education, students have faced difficulty in their classes especially in the first year academic courses. This caused lower academic performance and participation as well as low level of the grade point15. Other problems faced by international students at their first days are students’ registration in the university, language centre, dormitory, immigration office and bank. Most of the students faced difficulties in the immigration centre.

The staffs do not know the foreign language and sometimes they treated international students as asylum seekers or refugees. A Macedonian student said, “At Konya migration appointment and registration process took a long time, which led to my being late opening my bank account and getting transportation card”.

Non-scholarships international students who make private health insurance can’t take treatment in the hospitals without a fee. An Azerbaijani student in Izmir said, “I have paid 220 Turkish Lira for one-year health insurance which didn’t cover any expenses in the hospital; I have paid all expenses when got treatment”. Sometimes international students treated as a ‘foreigner’ and insulted in public places like transports, streets and markets16.

‘Residence’ is one of the big challenges facing international students in Turkey. International students who are studying with their own opportunities have no more scope to be accepted into the public dormitories. They have to find a house, apartment or private dormitories which are difficult to find and expensive as well.

Some international students arrange their educational expenses like tuition fees, health insurance fees, and accommodation fees including transportation fees by doing a job. Unfortunately, they have to work without insurance and get low salary17. Besides, employee students sometimes faced negative reactions due to religious or ethnic differences. In addition, fees for the residence permit, course fee for Turkish language, translations and notarization of the documents are another some problems for international students. International students, especially from Africa and Asia can’t go to their country every year due to the high cost of travel. The process of

14 Osman Titrek, Sayed Hassain Hashimi, Ali Salim Ali, and Hamadi Fadhil Nguluma, Challenges Faced by International Students in Turkey. Anthropologist, 24 (1), 2016, pp. 148-156. 15 Nurka Redžepagić-Bulić, International Students in Turkey: Main Problems Related to Poor Academic Performance, Journal of Psychology and Clinical Psychiatry, 2 (5), 2015, pp. 1-2. 16 Kasım Kıroğlu, Alper Kesten and Cevat Elma, Türkiye’de Öğrenim Gören Yabancı Uyruklu Lisans Öğrencilerinin Sosyo-Kültürel ve Ekonomik Sorunları, Mersin University Faculty of Education Journal, 6 (2), 2010, pp. 26-39. 17 Ebu Bekir Armağan, Türkiye’de Uluslararası Öğrencilerin Eğitim Sürecinde Karşılaştıkları Problemler Ve Problemlerin Çözümünde Uluslararası Öğrenci STK’larının Katkısı. International Student Symposium Book 2015, UDEF, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 76-94.

5 How Voluntary Organisations Can Solve the Problems of International Students: Examples of Turkey adapting to a new climate, geography, culture and language is painful processes that international students are facing in Turkey18.

2.4 Role of the Voluntary Organisations

Turkey is taking different policies and initiatives to bring international students from all over the world. It has established strong Council of Higher Education (YÖK), the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), new immigration policy and other practical steps for a better management of international students. In spite of these initiatives, lack of co-ordination among international student’s related state institutions and their bureaucratic natures has failed to solve the problems of international students. In this situation, a large number of voluntary organisations have formed at the local level to help the international students.

It also supports state organisations for identifying, analysing and solving the problems of international students. At the first time, Social Research and Intercultural Solidarity Association (SADER) formed in July 2004, working for the international students19. It was the first organisation that trying to serve to international students throughout their educational life in Turkey without discriminating them based on their colour, religion, tribe, sect or origin. It has changed its name as Bab-i-Alem International Student Association in 2008.

International Student Association lead by Turkish people has been started to form from 2009 in different provinces of Turkey. On 14th December 2012 International Student Associations Federation (UDEF) was formed by 11 associations of Turkey20. It is a federation which determined it as a mission to ensure the coordination of International Student Associations between themselves and to form new associations in different cities. The member of UDEF is increased 55 in 43 cities in 201621.

The aim of these voluntary organisations is to know and host the students who prefer to study in Turkey, to bring them together and try to solve their financial problems and give them moral support. Moreover, they help international students with their education, housing, health and residential problems and to cooperate with governmental organisations for the solution of those problems22.

Karadeniz International Student Association (KULDER)23* can be an example of how the volunteering organisation working for international students. KULDER has formed in 2012 in Trabzon city of Turkey and working for the international students. It has is working with 300 students who were from different countries of the word. KULDER organising country introducing the program and country food program where students of a specific county come together introduces their country and cooks their own foods.

Besides, it is providing monthly scholarships to 67 international students and foods support to 27 student’s houses where more than 100 students live. Furthermore, KULDER arranges tours, barbeque parties, breakfast programs and Iftar programs. In addition to these programs, KULDER arranges different courses on English, Turkish and

18 Ibid. 19 International Student Associations Federation (UDEF), Hakkımızda. www.udef.org.tr 20 Ebu Bekir Armağan,ibid. 21 International Student Associations Federation (UDEF), ibid. 22 International Student Associations Federation (UDEF), ibid. 23 * Karadeniz International Student Association (KULDER) is working for the international students of Karadeniz Technical University and Avrasya University of Trabzon, Turkey. The writher has interviewed the President of KULDER in February 2017 and collected the data related to KULDER.

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Arabic languages. It support students to find houses, helps them for resident permission and health insurance, gives medical supports to the needy students, sometimes provides air tickets to the students, and arranges part- time jobs in the summer.

KULDER has a guest house that uses for the international students; student groups use KULDER’s office for their programs. In addition, KULDER arranges student gathering program, organised by UDEF, which makes adaptation process easy for the students and the local community. KULDER works with the city corporation, proposes different projects and discounts, arranges sports tournaments for international students.

It arranges international student academy courses which help students to acquire new knowledge outside the classroom. KULDER cooperate with the university authority and solve many problems of the international student. Not only UDEF members but also many humanitarian organisations including IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and religious organisations support international students.

The data collected from the interviewee has shown the nature and scopes of the supports of voluntary organisations towards international students in Turkey.

Table 2. Supports taken by international students from voluntary organizations.

No Problems Percentage

01 Financial supports 45.0 02 Housing supports 35.0 03 Food supports 37.5 04 Health insurance-health related supports 45.0 05 Supports for residence permit 40.0 06 Participation in their programs 62.5 07 Participation in their student’s gathering 70.0 08 Making food programs their office 52.5 09 Participation in different food programs 75.0 10 Participation in the student’s academy 30.0 11 Part time job supports 15.0 12 Air/bus ticket supports 10.0 13 Participation in their tournaments 67.5 14 Participation in their tours/picnics 55.0 15 Participation in their cultural activities 25.0 17 Participation in their language programs 32.5

Although the interviewees were non-scholarship students it is notable that, scholarship students were also taking different support from the voluntary organisation. Students from different countries, religions and colours were treated same in these organisations and taking supports that they need.

One of the students from Bosnia said that “I am living with my wife and daughter and I have to take supports from the voluntary organisation. I am taking food supports from an organisation and scholarships from another. In addition, I take helps for the treatment supports from another person when I need”. Students find these organisations as their guardians in Turkey. A student from Mauritania said that “My permit was cancelled and I was bound to leave Turkey in 10 days. In this situation, I contracted to the president of our International Student Organisation; he discussed the matter with the immigration office and found an easy solution for me”.

7 How Voluntary Organisations Can Solve the Problems of International Students: Examples of Turkey

3. Conclusions

The new internationalisation of higher education policy in Turkey opened the door to international students. Meritorious students from all parts of the world are coming to Turkey for its better education and cheap living cost. Besides, the voluntary organisations of in Turkey has been playing an important role in this context. They open their door to international students and providing scholarships, dormitories, houses, foods as well as other technical support.

Students come to these organisations and shares all the problems that they have been facing and the authority of these voluntary organisations tries to their best for the students. All the supports of voluntary organisations of Turkey have been provided without any interest. They treated the students as a guest in Turkey and do their best for international students without discriminating them based on their colour, religion, tribe, sect or origin. These humanitarian and noble services towards international students can be an important example to other countries.

Reference

Akçali, P., Engin-Demir, C. (2012): Turkey’s Educational Policies in Central Asia and Caucasia: Perceptions of Policy Makers and Experts, International Journal of Educational Development, 32 (1), 11-21 Alimukhamedov, F. (2015): Türkiye’ye Uluslararası Öğrenci Göçünün Analizi, Bilge Strateji, 7 (12), 117-132 Armağan, E. (2016): Türkiye’de Uluslararası Öğrencilerin Eğitim Sürecinde Karşılaştıkları Problemler Ve Problemlerin Çözümünde Uluslararası Öğrenci STK’larının Katkısı, International Student Symposium Book 2015, UDEF, Istanbul, Turkey, 76-94 Bulić, R. N. (2015): International Students in Turkey: Main Problems Related to Poor Academic Performance, Journal of Psychology and Clinical Psychiatry, 2 (5), 1-2 Engin-Demir, C. (2011): Educational Policies of Turkey on Turkic Republics and Turkic Communities: The Great Student Exchange Project, NNRRAG-NN45, Geneva, Switzerland, 93-95 Hürriyet (2011) Yabancı öğrenci sayısı yüzde 182 arttı, Hürriyet.com.tr, 17 June, Istanbul, Turkey (Last Viewed: 21 February 2017) Kıroğlu, K., Kesten, A., Elma, C. (2010): Türkiye’de Öğrenim Gören Yabancı Uyruklu Lisans Öğrencilerinin Sosyo- Kültürel ve Ekonomik Sorunları, Mersin University Faculty of Education Journal, 6 (2), 26-39 Özoğlu, M., Gür, S. B., Coşkun, İ. (2015): Factors influencing international students’ choice to study in Turkey and challenges they experience in Turkey, Research in Comparative and International Education, 10(2), 1-15 Sağıroğlu, A. Z. (2016): Dünyada Ve Türkiye’de Uluslararası Öğrenci Trendleri, International Student Symposium Book 2015, UDEF, Istanbul, Turkey, 33-43 Studyinturkey (2017): Financial Aid & Scholarships, Studyinturkey.com, Istanbul, Turkey (Last Viewed: 25 February 2017) Titrek, O., Hashimi, S. H., Ali, A. S., Nguluma, H. F. (2016): Challenges Faced by International Students in Turkey, Anthropologist, 24 (1), 148-156 Turkiyeburslari (2017): Scholarship Programs, turkiyeburslari.gov.tr, Ankara, Turkey (Last Viewed: 27 February 2017) UDEF (2017): Hakkımızda, Udef.org.tr, Istanbul, Turkey (Last Viewed: 01March 2017) YÖK (2016): 2015-2016 Öğretim Yılı Yükseköğretim İstatistikleri. Yok.gov.tr, Ankara, Turkey, (Last Viewed: 01 January 2017)