Minister Tekin: We are developing a project to evaluate open-ended questions supported by artificial intelligence.

In his speech at the Bab-ı Ali Meetings, titled "Targeted Transformation and Innovative Approaches in the National Education Infrastructure in the Age of Information and Technology," Minister of National Education Tekin expressed his hope that the meeting would make positive contributions to the education system in Turkey.

Tekin stated that one of the Ministry of National Education's key areas of interest is developing young people's technological infrastructure, adding that it is important to develop schools' technological capabilities in line with the requirements of the age, as well as to take steps to ensure that students and teachers also improve themselves in this regard.

Tekin emphasized that they aim to create a well-functioning technology ecosystem in Türkiye, related to both production and consumption, and stated that all of the approximately 65,000 public schools have internet access.

Tekin stated that EBA is one of the richest portals in the world in terms of educational content, adding that the application is constantly updated and students can access hundreds of thousands of pieces of content thanks to interactive whiteboards.

"We established a ministry management system that works through a decision support system."

Minister Tekin stated that they have begun to use artificial intelligence applications intensively and that they have taken steps to analyze the big data generated, and said:

We insisted on establishing a mechanism that would monitor and immediately intervene in everything from personnel policies to student achievement, from physical school investments to student absences. For the first time in Türkiye, we have established a ministry management system that operates through a decision support system. We have established a management system that supports everything from maintenance and repair in our schools to monitoring student achievement and attendance, and even tracking the weekly course load of our teachers, all supported by artificial intelligence. This will both make our decisions more rational and create a significant opportunity for the effective and efficient use of public resources.

Highlighting the Ministry of National Education's work on artificial intelligence, Tekin said, "We have established a department to monitor developments in the international arena regarding artificial intelligence applications in education, and to manage developments within the ministry. Within our General Directorate of Innovation and Educational Technologies, we have the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Applications. This is the department that coordinates and works to develop artificial intelligence applications throughout this entire process. Thanks to this department, we are achieving many things."

Tekin also touched upon the test exams for students and spoke about open-ended questions:

Everyone says test exams should be abolished as soon as possible, but we all have doubts about the objective evaluation of open-ended questions. We are developing a project with TÜBİTAK regarding the evaluation of open-ended questions supported by artificial intelligence. We have many AI-supported projects. In this sense, our ministry is the first in Türkiye to develop an artificial intelligence policy document and the resulting action plan. This is very important for us.

Following Minister Tekin's speech, the meeting was held behind closed doors.