Making the High Values of Humanity the Target of Education

“Making the high values of humanity the target of education” has been a utopia in my professional life of education and education management, which started in 1979 and has continued until today. The concept of the high values of humanity can be understood in a rather simple way: “a scientific journey to human nature…” Today, in particular, there are many helping elements that will enlighten us for every effort to be made for this great ideal. Well, school is one of these elements.

They are places that prepare a future for the whole world, and Okyanus Kolejleri was established in consideration of these feelings. The basic patterns of education were framed through the following logic: “The actual science data will open the doors to the students’ minds. Yet, they will not be deprived of their will.” The model of a human who is able to analyze and synthesize and use initiative in practical life should be at the centre of the education system. In consideration of the fact that the school is not just a learning place for a student, it should be remembered that there are areas where dozens of needs such as making friends, proving oneself, and making observations are met.

As Okyanus Kolejleri, we started to seek answers to the four basic needs of every student, namely, spiritual development, emotional development, mental development, and physical development.

As a result of the answers we found to these basic needs, we established dozens of academic, artistic, cultural, and sports clubs and made the following call to our students:

“We invite you to mental enlightenment equipped with universal knowledge, emotional excitement coloured by all kinds of art, spiritual care exalted with ethical values, physical development of sports integrated with health, vision, virtue, and atmosphere of tolerance with the vastness of an ocean.”

This call received such a great response that we had to open new campuses in Istanbul and many provinces of Türkiye.

Established by us in 2004, Okyanus Kolejleri has become a world brand through the talent-centred education model we have implemented in our schools, with nearly 100 successes worldwide that our students have achieved in sports, art, science, and education.

I do believe that the transformation of all high schools into career and vocational high schools (architecture career and vocational high school, informatics career and vocational high school, medicine, law, economics career and vocational high school, etc.) in the Turkish education system will offer great benefits for our country. Contributing to the education system of our country by working on methods of thought and practice in this field is one of my goals in this regard.

I predict that students who are to be placed in career and vocational high schools through vocational aptitude tests given to all students after secondary school must acquire a profession until the end of high school. Millions of young people in our country will gain advantages in many aspects every year through a model in which the most successful students who go to a career and vocational high school will enter the university without examination.

The profession acquisition achieved through this method will give the following results:

1. a) The students will gain confidence.
2. B) The country will have more qualified people.
3. c) Greater successes will be achieved worldwide through a qualified young population where each person has a profession in Türkiye in 10 years at most.

Orhan Özbey

Chairman of the Board of Directors at Okyanus Holding