The “My Apprentice Students on the Path to Mastery” Awareness Meeting, organized under the Vocational Education and Training Programme for Employment (VET4JOB-II), was held in İstanbul on 10 June 2026. The programme is funded by the European Union and implemented in cooperation with the Directorate General of Vocational and Technical Education of the Ministry of National Education and the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK), under the leadership of Expertise France and in partnership with EDUSER.
The meeting brought together enterprises that currently employ apprentice students or have the potential to do so. It aimed to promote a better understanding of the differences between apprenticeship training and child labour, as well as to encourage the dissemination of practices that support children in learning a profession in safe, healthy, and education-oriented environments. The discussions also focused on identifying sector-specific risks, sharing good practices that reduce these risks, and strengthening sustainable processes for training qualified master craftsmen from the perspective of enterprises.
The opening speeches were delivered by İbrahim Sak, Head of the Vocational and Technical Education Unit at the İstanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education, and İlhan Taşkıran, President of the İstanbul Chamber of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (İSTESOB). In his speech, Sak emphasized that apprenticeship training plays a strategic role in preparing young people for the future and meeting the need for qualified human resources in enterprises, underlining the importance of implementing the process with a child-rights-based, safe, and education-oriented approach. Taşkıran highlighted that the strong cooperation between vocational education centres and enterprises contributes both to meeting sectoral workforce needs and to enabling young people to acquire professional skills.
Following the screening of the VET4JOB-II promotional film, presentations were delivered on awareness and responsibilities in apprenticeship training, the fundamental differences between apprenticeship and child labour, employers’ obligations, and the protection of apprentice students from the perspective of occupational health and safety.
The programme continued with an interactive self-assessment session involving active participation from attendees. During this session, enterprises had the opportunity to review their current practices, while sectoral risks and potential solutions were discussed through case analyses. Participants contributed by sharing their experiences and views on improving safe and high-quality apprenticeship training and promoting good practices.
The meeting concluded with a general evaluation and commitment session following the collection of participants’ feedback and recommendations. Throughout the meeting, emphasis was placed on the importance of promoting safe and education-oriented apprenticeship practices.
