MEDEK organized the “Team Leaders Information and Assessment Meeting”
prior to the 2026–2027 Assessment Period. At the meeting, details were shared
regarding the distance covered and the targets of MEDEK, the criteria and
assessment process, portal usage, communication, and field experience, as well as
field expenses. A workshop was also held.
The Vocational Education Evaluation and
Accreditation Association (MEDEK) held a Team Leaders Information and Assessment
Meeting. The meeting, held at Radisson Blu Hotel, was attended by 124
academics from 45 universities who will serve as team leaders during the 2026–2027
Assessment Period. In the opening session, with the opening
speech delivered by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sarıbıyık, Chair of the MEDEK Board of
Directors, the President of the Vocational Education Accreditation Council (MEK), Assoc. Prof. Dr. İsa Vural,
made a presentation titled “Associate Degree Program
Criteria and Assessment Process.” In the second session,
MEK Vice Chair Dr. Öğr. Member Furkan Korkmaz “MEDEK Portal”,
Communication and Field Experience Sharing by the Consistency Committee Chair Prof. Dr. Nuri Akkaş,
and “Expense Guide” by the Secretary General Serdar Çelik
were presented. In the third and final session,
a workshop for field assessment and a Kahoot knowledge contest
were organized. After the evaluations for the day,
the meeting concluded.
Vocational education is our
country’s competitive power
Recalling that MEDEK moves with the motto “Assurance in Education,” Board Chair Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sarıbıyık began his speech by saying, “Trust is built with knowledge. It is strengthened through effort. It is reinforced through consistency. It is protected through an ethical stance. It becomes lasting through justice. This understanding became the core principle of every work we do, every decision we make, and every report we prepare. In my past, the experience I gained at many stages of vocational education showed me that vocational education is not merely an area of education. The profession is, essentially, about production, industry, health, agriculture, technology, the service sector, and finally development. In all of these combined, it is our country’s competitive power,” he said.
We will be in the field with
three hundred fifty assessment teams
Emphasizing
that they had covered an important distance upon their arrival, Sarıbıyık said, “As an independent accreditation
organization authorized by the Council of Higher Education Quality Board
(YÖKAK), we have quickly become one of the largest
accreditation organizations in our country. We evaluated
more than one hundred universities, hundreds of
vocational schools, and approximately seven hundred programs. This year, too,
we will be in the field for more than five hundred programs with approximately three hundred fifty
assessment teams and our two
hundred team leaders. In these teams; our
academics, our representatives from the business world, and our student evaluators
will carry out their duties together toward the same goal.”
Internationalization efforts
have begun
Stating the importance of
the contribution they make to vocational education, Sarıbıyık said, “If after a university visit
someone says, ‘This process gave us a new perspective,’ if
an academic says, ‘We started to see our shortcomings more clearly,’ and if
a student says, ‘I trust the quality of the program I study more now,’
then that is our real success. Quality should be measured through the impact it creates.
What MEDEK does is to build trust. In line with this mission, our vision is also
quite broad. Within this framework, we are at the beginning of a new journey.
We have started our efforts to become an
international accreditation organization. Our goal is to become an
international accreditation organization that is trusted and taken as a reference
both in our country and in different countries around the world. We can only achieve this goal
together, because international trust is built
upon the trust you establish at the national level.”