The Final Event of the “Business Start-Up Contest” held as part of the Vocational Education for Jobs Project (VET4JOB/İMEP) took place in Ankara on February 27th-29th.
İMEP is being implemented by Expertise France and EDUSER in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education (MEB MTEGM) and the Türkiye Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) with the financial support of the European Union (EU),
A total of 102 teams from 12 different provinces entered the Business Start-Up Contest. The entries were evaluated by independent assessors in accordance with the criteria set out in the Business Start-up Contest Implementation Framework previously forwarded to schools. The 12 teams which received the highest points earned the right to take part in the final stage,
The contest was organised to encourage creative ideas and develop the capacities of apprentice students to establish their own businesses. The selected teams developed innovative start-up ideas with an emphasis on social benefit that were based on skills, innovative methods, techniques or tools falling within the scope of apprenticeship training. The final event which these teams won the right to take part in encompassed ideas development, training and mentorship.
Everybody Wins
The final three-day training camp was organised to support the finalist teams in developing their initial innovative, transformative and inclusive ideas further. The aim was to develop the capacity of the apprentice students so that they could move on from the stage of generating a start-up idea to the stage of developing their business plans.
In addition to training and mentorship services, the event gave the apprentice students the opportunity to exchange ideas with one another and with experts in similar fields. Training on topics such as planning, research, prototyping and establishing a business model provided the students with the knowledge they needed to put their start-up ideas into practice.
The names of the winning teams were announced on the last day of the Business Start-Up Contest Final Event. The ‘’Hastalıkta Zorluğa Yer Yok [No Place for Trouble in Illness]” team from the Mersin Akdeniz Vocational Training Centre (VTC) took first place with their idea for social sensitivity towards persons with disabilities and elderly citizens. Second came the “Kaşifler [Discoverers]” team from the Ayşe Baldöktü VTC in Kayseri with their idea related to the circular economy. The “Palmiye [Palm Tree]” team from the İskenderun VTC in Hatay took third place with their start-up idea in the field of the sustainable economy.
The members of the winning team were presented with their plaques and gift voucher by Ministry of National Education Vocational and Technical Education Director General Ali Karagöz. In his speech, Mr. Karagöz stated that apprenticeship training was playing a major part in production and working life in Türkiye and fulfilling an important responsibility. He said that each of the students had become an entrepreneur of the future with the start-up ideas which they had come up with for the contest, All the young finalists, he added, had looked at the world through a different lens to create value in response to a variety of needs.
Mr. Atakan Çelik, Deputy Secretary General of the Türkiye Federation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen, presented plaques and gift voucher to the members of the team which came second. Congratulating all the finalists, Mr. Çelik emphasised the great importance and value of the İMEP programme for vocational training and young people.
The members of the third-placed team received their plaques and gift voucher from Mr. Laurent Guirkinger, Head of the Department of Human and Social Development at the EU Delegation to Türkiye. “Every new enterprise and start-up idea does not merely create employment for the entrepreneur himself or herself; it also has the potential to create employment opportunities for others,” Mr. Guirkinger noted, “For the past three days,” he went on, “besides receiving training on how to be an entrepreneur and how to present their business ideas, the apprentice students have also learned how to work as a team. These skills will undoubtedly assist them in their professional lives.” Mr. Guirkinger said that one of the main goals of the European Union was to enable young people to express themselves as entrepreneurs through concrete activities and to become aware of their potentials to take their first steps towards entrepreneurship. “I believe that this contest is a significant step in this direction and has contributed to achieving this goal,” he remarked.
The other teams which took part in the final of the İMEP Business Start-Up Contest also received plaques as finalists and were involved in this learning process. They were:
Activities that aim to increase dialogue, interaction and cooperation among apprentice students are one of the types of activity which are prioritised under İMEP. The apprentice student forums, solidarity activities and start-up contest have been organised in this context. Throughout the programme, activities directed towards social adaptation provide Turkish and Syrian apprentice students with the chance to learn together, exchange ideas and socialise.