Turkey's State Council retains university admissions system

09/02/2010

ANKARA, Turkey -- The State Council, the country's highest administrative court, ruled on Monday (February 8th) to retain the current university admissions system, which imposes tougher grading standards for graduates of vocational high schools offering religious education. University admission is one of many battlegrounds between secularists and conservatives in Turkey. The government had vowed to lift barriers to university entry for vocational high schools, attended mostly by children from conservative families. The current system makes it more difficult for graduates of these schools to enrol in the programme of their choice. Secularists often accuse religious schools as too focused on Islam.

In other news, Ankara is hosting a meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia on Tuesday. Turkey's Ahmet Davutoglu, BiH's Sven Alkalaj and Serbia's Vuk Jeremic are focusing on regional events and steps to strengthen co-operation. The trilateral talks began in Istanbul in October. (Zaman, Yeni Safak, Vatan, Hurriyet - 09/02/10; Anadolu news agency, Milliyet, AFP - 08/02/10)