Aksaray University’s Faculty of Education in Aksaray, central Türkiye, sees only two students enrolled in its Science Teaching program, which has a capacity of 40.

Among the students, 19-year-old Kuddusi Çağrı Karakaya expresses his surprise at the small class size: "I was shocked on my first day in class, with just two of us in a 40-person class, our lessons are going very smoothly."

The program, which accommodates 110 students, including upper-level students, provides education in classrooms and laboratories staffed by 17 faculty members. Kuddusi notes: "My father is a teacher and has been in the education sector for a long time, influencing my decision to come here."

"My mother also supports my desire to become a teacher. My father has been a classroom teacher for 25 years, our school has three laboratories, and when I went to the 50-person labs, I felt like I was in a space. However, our experiments go really well; our professors engage with us one-on-one, allowing us to spend more time conducting experiments," Karakaya said.

Karakaya reveals that this was his ninth choice of university, and while he acknowledges that there may be better programs available, he ended up choosing Aksaray because it is closer to home.

He reflects on his first day, saying: "I was genuinely surprised to find just two of us in a huge classroom. On the bright side, I don’t think we will have difficulties in job placements in the coming years. It seems like a disadvantage, but lessons are very fluid with just two of us in a 40-person class."

"However, it can also get a bit boring and we haven’t faced any problems so far. My goal is to become a science teacher, but my preference may change by the end of the year or in the following years," he said.