In Malatya, which was affected by the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, which is described as the “disaster of the century”, the preparations at the university for the new academic year have been completed to a large extent.
Inonu University Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kızılay said that their university was also damaged in the earthquakes on 6 February.
Noting that 20 of the 150 buildings on the campus were heavily damaged in the earthquake, they demolished some of the buildings, the work on the others continues, and they repaired the less damaged buildings, Kızılay stated that the hospitals within the university have been in service since the first moment of the earthquake.
“We opened 28 quotas, 725 people applied”
Emphasizing that the demand for universities increased despite the earthquake, Kızılay continued his words as follows:
“The placements at our university are higher than in previous years. We have achieved an occupancy rate of 102 percent in associate degree and 97.3 percent in undergraduate. Except for one or two departments in our faculties, our occupancy rate has almost reached 100 percent. We are accepting students to 354 programs in total. Our students’ placement preferences are ahead of the pre-earthquake. “Malatya is one of the 4 provinces most affected by the earthquake and we have two universities in the city. We opened 28 quotas for lateral transfers to our Faculty of Medicine, 725 people applied. This is a very high, surprising number for us. Also, there was an additional 25 percent quota in the earthquake region, and these quotas also “We have reached an occupancy rate of close to 100 percent. Despite being an earthquake zone, we see that our students are in demand at our university. We see that we are in the choice and the settlement rate is much higher than we expected.”
“A higher settlement than before the earthquake”
prof. Dr. Ahmet Kızılay stated that the rate of placement in universities is 98.5 percent and said:
“This is a very high rate. In the first weeks of September, we have departments with special talents, their applications have started and they will be placed. International student placements will follow. We expect more than 8,500 new students to enroll in our university. Our total number of students is over 37 thousand. “The effect of the earthquake was not seen in the student settlement of İnönü University, on the contrary, we saw a higher settlement than before the earthquake. We are planning to provide the best education to our young people who prefer us in the new term and we are working in line with that plan. May our students keep their hopes and excitement. Malatya.” I believe that we will play a role as an important university in bringing this dynamism to the city together with our students, academic and administrative staff, and in the recovery of the city. All our aim is to provide a very good education to our students, we are making all the preparations for this.”
Explaining that there are constant meetings with the authorities in order to prevent university students from experiencing accommodation problems in the city, Kızılay added that the work on this issue continues at full speed.