University students throughout the country have encountered the problem of accommodation due to insufficient number of state-run dormitories, and high rent rates. In the capital city of Ankara, too, the problem of accommodation is one of the basic problems of students. Existing dormitories run by CDA and universities are just enough for the 17 percent of the university students in Ankara.
For a total of 238,355 students in undergraduate and graduate programs in Ankara, there is space available only for 41,297 students in CDA and university dormitories. The rates, on the other hand, are prohibitively high for those students who seek for a space at privately run dormitories. In private dormitories, the rates run from 10,000 TL to 25,000 TL a year.
Despite that President Erdogan has responded as ‘There is no issue of accommodation,’ to the students in many cities, saying ‘we can’t find a place to live,’ who wanted their voices heard, the existing figures and the issues encountered present the very issue of accommodation. In the city where there are 6 state run and 9 private universities, the total number of students at the level of undergraduate and graduate programs is 238,355. And the data reveal that there are no state run dormitories for the 83% of students.
SAME PROBLEM AT HACETTEPE AND METU
Eventhough the total population at undergraduate and graduate studies at Middle-East Technical University (METU) is 27,452, the dormitory capacity is total 7,294, 3,494 for women, 3,800 for men. METU provides shelter for only 26.57% of its students, and according to the dormitory listings announced this year, more than half of its students could not be placed in the dormitories. The total population of Hacettepe University at undergraduate and graduate programs is 52,740. Of the university, having two separate campuses, Beytepe Campus provides dormitories for 4,159 students, and Sihhiye Campus for 1,565 students. Hacettepe University provides dormitories in campus for only 10.85% of its students.
1.57 PERCENT IN UNIVERSITY DORMITORIES
The total population of Ankara University is 67,034, and the dormitory capacity is very far from meeting this figure. As accommodations, Ankara University offers its students 7 student residents. In these residents, 727 female undergraduate students, and 327 male undergraduate students, 53% of whom is at their final year, can stay. In other words, only 1.57% of Ankara University students can benefit from the existing dormitories the University provides.
SOME UNIVERSITIES HAVE NO DORMITORIES
In one front, Gazi University, with a total population of 68,654, has no dormitories that it runs/owns. In the University website, CDA dormitories around the University campuses are offered to its students as possible accommodations. In another front, Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University has 28,833 students, but there are no accommodations offered to its students.
CDA DORMITORIES NOT SUFFICIENT
Accommodations outside the universities are also insufficient. Throughout Turkey, of 592 CDA-run dormitories, 32 are located in Ankara. The capacity of CDA dormitories in Ankara is 27,225. It seems that the capacity of these dormitories has decreased by 564 spaces between the years 2019 and 2020. CDA provides accommodations only for 11.42% of the students in Ankara. Apart from the state and university-run dormitories, there are 39 private dormitories for females and 19 for males, a total of 58 private dormitories in Ankara. There is no cited data about the capacities of these dormitories. (EVRENSEL DAILY)
Hediye Levent
Yusuf Karadaş