*Selin Yılmaz
Students from YTU described the physical problems they encountered on campus and the steps they took to solve them.
Since the beginning of the semester, students at Yıldız Technical University (YTU) have faced many problems. These include increasing cafeteria fees, reduced shuttle services, renovations affecting lessons and exams, cold classrooms with no heating, a collapsed library ceiling, and hygiene problems.
The plaster of the university’s recently opened library fell on students for the 4th time. The precautions taken by the administration did not go beyond closing the library to use. The classrooms of the Faculty of Civil Engineering were flooded. Students are having difficulty finding classrooms to study in. These days, when the university is practically falling apart, YTU students have collected petitions in some faculties and conveyed their complaints to the administration. Steps have been taken to solve some, if not all, problems.
We asked the students about these problems.
“The heaters were on after the petitions”
Cansu, a student at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, described the physical conditions at the university as follows:
“The toilets at our faculty were in deplorable hygiene, and the heaters were not working, so the cold classrooms where we were studying were becoming unbearable. A few of my classmates and I decided to collect petitions. We made an announcement during a lesson, and 59 petitions had been signed from two classes by its end. The dean of the faculty agreed to meet with us and stated that he would solve the hygiene problem as quickly as possible and try to do his best to turn on the heaters. The heaters started to burn from the next day. He also said that the school administration did not provide a cleaning staff due to Public Savings but that they would try to solve the hygiene problem. We agreed to meet with the dean weekly and discuss the faculty situation. Collecting petitions is perhaps one of the simplest methods, but instead of remaining silent, taking steps and objecting brought us results.”
“Should we bring soap with us?”
A similar situation is the case at the Faculty of Chemistry and Metallurgy. Faculty-student Aleyna described the problem in the following words: “The faculty was incredibly cold. I mean, even academics come to class with their coats on and don’t take them off. It’s really hard to study or listen in this cold. Apart from that, the electricity in our faculty goes out all the time. We are in the middle of a lesson, and the electricity suddenly goes out, and we can’t continue. I can’t even count how many times this happened this year. There used to be very little toilet paper in the toilets, and we got used to that. However, this year, they started not putting soap on either. Let’s say we solve this by bringing tissues for toilet paper; how can we bring soap with us?”
Problems highlighted in the survey
Ayşenur explained the survey conducted on the problems faced by students:
“187 people participated in the survey. We saw how dissatisfied our friends were with their problems and how they were looking for a way out. If we were to touch on some important findings highlighted in the survey, the rate of those who drew attention to the hygiene problem in faculty toilets was 98.4%, the rate of those who complained about the heaters not working until the survey date was 89%. The rate of those who thought that the laboratory capacity was insufficient was 75.4%. We also started collecting petitions for these problems. While we were just starting to collect them, the dean said he wanted to meet with us. We took the survey results to the dean and told him about our problems. The heaters started working after that day. These may seem like small steps, but they were changing for us. From now on, we will look for ways to react and make a voice against our problems.”
“We can’t focus on exams because of the noise from the renovation”
Yaren, a student at the Civil Engineering Faculty, said that they were tired of classrooms being flooded:
“I’ll say it sounds like a joke, but unfortunately, classrooms are flooded in one of the best universities. The library ceiling keeps falling on our heads. The faculty has been under renovation since the beginning of the semester. They closed every entrance. We walk around the entire faculty to get to class. We can’t focus on exams because of the noise from the renovation. It’s also dangerous. Why are we studying at a university if we can’t study at school or in the library? Whenever we go to the rector, he says that the budget has decreased and the number of rings has decreased due to the Public Savings Package. Is our education the first thing as cuts for saving? We don’t accept this. The school receives a large budget, so where is this budget spent? There is no answer. Certainly, it is not spent on us. Petitions have started to be collected in a few faculties. We are also starting to collect them in our faculty. That is the first step. If the problems are not solved, we must look for other ways to come together. It can’t continue.”
The Public Savings Package has reduced the quality of students’ education as much as possible. Unsurprisingly, the government is making its first savings on education. However, these conditions in such prominent public universities are unacceptable. As students, we should look for ways to unite and fight. Although the petitions seemed simple, they were the first step, and we started to get results. We have to continue this and fight for a qualified scientific education.
