Steps to win the "Turkish Grant" .. 5 thousand free study opportunities in Turkey for the year 2020

Menna Jameel - Istanbul

By mid-January each year, until February 20, students of the world will be on a date with one of the most fully funded international scholarships.

The "Turkish Scholarship" funded by the Turkish government gives an opportunity to thousands of students to explore the enjoyment of Turkish education and the historical and cultural richness of this country.

The “Turkish Scholarship” - which is managed by the Presidency of Diaspora Affairs and Communities of Kin (YTP) - is famous for its high acceptance ratios, as it provided in 2019 about five thousand foreign students, to complete their studies in Turkish universities, as it excludes from the grant already registered Turks In universities within a Turkish domain, it can be applied through (Turkiyeburslari.gov.tr).

Turkey started this educational program in 1992 under the name "The Great Student Project", and in 2012 it changed its name to the "Turkish Scholarship", with the aim of Turkey becoming "a base for education worldwide."

According to Abdullah Arn, director of the Presidency of the Diaspora Turks and Kinship Communities, the said presidency is working to increase the number of scholarship recipients to 25,000 students until 2023.

According to the latest statistics, 17,000 students from different countries of the world are currently benefiting from the scholarship program, and are continuing their education in Turkish universities.

In 2019, the scholarship program registered 145,000 and seven hundred students from 167 countries from all over the world.

Grant privileges
The "Turkish Grant" program provides a golden opportunity for international students and researchers, to continue their education in the most prominent Turkish colleges, without incurring any financial burden.

The Turkish scholarship covers tuition fees, the cost of an annual airline ticket for the student to return to his homeland, health insurance, housing, and a one-year Turkish language learning program, in addition to granting the student a monthly stipend, according to his academic stage.

The scholarship for the undergraduate program includes a monthly salary of 700 pounds, while the monthly salary for graduate students ranges between 950 pounds for a master’s student and 1400 for a doctoral student.

Once a person has been awarded a grant, its administration will formally enroll it in the department and university appropriate to its qualifications.

Eligible
All students around the world are entitled to apply for the Turkish scholarship, and according to the academic undergraduate standards, the average applicant in secondary school should not be less than 70% for all specializations and 90% for medical group specializations (human medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy).

He must have graduated or is about to graduate from the high school (baccalaureate), where a document from the school in which he studies the high school can prove his rate, and that he is enrolled in the last stage of high school, and the applicant's age should not exceed 21 years.

As for the graduate studies stage, the applicant for the master's program must not be more than thirty years old, and his cumulative average in the bachelor's degree must not be less than 75%, while the doctoral scholarship program requires that the applicant's age must not be more than 35 years, and the average master's degree must not be less than 75%.

Programs and majors
The Turkish scholarship program includes almost all majors, and these specializations are divided according to a number of programs that differ according to the nature of the subjects, whether literary or scientific, and the targeted students.

The grant gives all those who have obtained a preparatory year for the Turkish language in the event that they do not submit a certificate of proficiency in a recognized Turkish language. Turkish is a mandatory requirement in all disciplines, even those or some of its subjects are taught in English.

The requirement to learn the Turkish language also applies to graduate students, but the duration of the study ranges between two and four years, with the possibility of extension in agreement with the supervisor responsible for the student's message and the administration of the scholarship.

With regard to the programs offered for undergraduate students, there are seven separate scholarships that fall under the umbrella of the “Turkish Scholarship”, and they differ according to the targeted students. Among the most prominent are directed to students of African countries and a number of Arab countries as follows:

1- Turkey Africa Grant
It is provided to students of the African continent, and some of its specializations support the English language, and it includes law, mathematics, physics, agriculture, commerce, business administration, economics, engineering, environmental sciences, software and computer science, international affairs, history, media, and other human social sciences.

2- The Bosphorus Grant
Introduction to the citizens of 58 countries, including Qatar, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman and Saudi Arabia, and some of its specializations are taught in the English language, and includes engineering and technology programs, social sciences, humanities and administrative sciences.

3- Harran Grant
Introduction to students of 11 countries, including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, and some of its majors are taught in English.

This program covers all disciplines except medical science, human medicine, Turkish language literature and Islamic studies.

Postgraduate programs
1- Ali Kushchu Science and Technology Scholarship, which is offered to all international students enrolled in their country in the Master and Doctorate degrees in the fields of science, engineering and technology.

2- Ibn Khaldun Scholarship for Social Sciences, submitted to master's and doctoral students in the fields of humanities, history, public law, political science, international relations, planning, development studies, and other social sciences down to the fields of economics, business administration and human resource management, and some specializations are taught in English .

3- Ibn Sina Scholarship for Medical Sciences, offered to Masters and PhD students from all over the world, human medicine, dentistry and pharmacy students, and some of its specializations are taught in English.

4- Yunus Emre Scholarship for the Turkish Language, submitted to masters and doctoral students who specialize in Turkish language, literature and cultural studies, and taught in Turkish.

5- The "Divinities" scholarship for Islamic studies, submitted to masters and doctoral students specializing in religious sciences and theology, taught in Turkish.

Previous experiences
Aya Suleiman, an Egyptian girl, joined the Turkish scholarship in 2013, to complete her master's studies at Sakarya University (northwestern Turkey); she described the experience of Al-Jazeera Net as "the most important event in her life."

"Everything was organized, starting with our reception at the airport, our distribution to student housing, and the opening of our bank accounts, through which we receive the monthly salary that the grant provides."

Aya - who was fluent in the Turkish language - praised the high level with which the services provided to the scholarship students were distinguished, whether in terms of cleanliness of the residence rooms, or meals, in addition to the cooperation of Turkish teachers and students.

I continued, "Student housing in Turkey is like hotels, and this is felt by everyone in the various Turkish states, whether the cities are big or small, all services are available."

On the stages of applying for the scholarship, the verse of the applicants asked to focus on the personal interview that takes place in the motherland, and prepare for it well, and also called upon those who reach this stage to not be interested in speaking Turkish during the interview if he is not fluent in it, because this will not add anything to him, adding "the grant It obliges everyone to have a preparatory year in the Turkish language to help them understand the subjects and deal in daily life. "

"I gave my interview in the Turkish language because I am good at it, I entered several competitions and won first places, and I included this in my scholarship file; it was natural to speak with the grant committee during the Turkish interview."

Sahar bin Youssef, a young Tunisian woman who completes her PhD at Istanbul University in Turkey thanks to the scholarship, indicated that studying political science is "very useful" in Turkey.

"Turkey is a European and Middle Eastern country at the same time, bringing together many cultures and nationalities, and this mix is ​​very useful for studying political science," she told the island.

She also made it clear that "Istanbul University" is an ideal choice for those who want to study this field in English and get to know an elite group of professors and researchers in the field of politics.

She added, "Studying in Turkey is enjoyable, and the professors are very cooperative, to the extent that the professor can agree to take the oral exams by the student at a time that suits him if he needs to travel to his family for an urgent matter."

She also indicated that the professors and the scholarship administration take into account, in particular, the students ’family and social circumstances, and this is reflected in the dates of periodic exams and the dates of returning to student housing.

She explained, "The grant administration understands the conditions of all students, especially those enrolled in graduate studies, and gives them several permissions that allow them to delay the closing date of university housing. Sometimes we are forced to attend a seminar or cultural event that makes us violate the dates."

Sahar also praised the system that the scholarship student enjoys, starting from the stage of applying and responding via e-mail, to Turkey, residence in the university housing, and obtaining food and transportation cards.

She concluded by saying, "The administration of the scholarship takes into account even the students' unwillingness to live with other students. Student comfort is essential in this program.