The second of the Apprentice Student Forums organized within the scope of the “Improving the Employment Prospects for the Syrian Refugees and Host Communities by Providing High-Quality VET and Apprenticeship in Turkey Programme (Vocational Training Programme for Employment-VET4JOB)” was held in Istanbul.
THE 2nd APPRENTICE STUDENT FORUM IS HELD WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR EMPLOYMENT
The 2nd Apprentice Student Forum within the scope of the “Improving the Employment Prospects for the Syrian Refugees and Host Communities by Providing High-Quality VET and Apprenticeship in Turkey Programme (Vocational Training Programme for Employment-VET4JOB)” conducted by Expertise France and EDUSER in cooperation with the General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Training of the Ministry of National Education (MEB -MTEGM) and the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) with the financial support of the European Union was held in İstanbul on 8-10 June, 2022.
Voice of the Apprentice Students
Apprentice student forums aims to address the opportunities and bottlenecks of apprenticeship training from the perspective of apprentice students, to support these students to carry out participatory processes for the education system they are involved and to enable them to make their voices heard. With the student-to-student approach, developing interaction between youth, reinforcing them and creating a space for them to improve their leadership skills are also included in the objectives of the apprentice student forums. In addition, the forums are aimed to serve as a platform for jointly generating ideas on common issues, enabling students to advocate for themselves, increasing the opportunities for dialogue, and introducing apprenticeship education by these students.
The forums are held with the participation of 1 leader teacher and 2 leader students from each of the 36 vocational education institutions in 12 provinces within the scope of İMEP|VET4JOB and the representatives of the Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (ESOB) in the programme provinces.
The apprentice students who attended the 1st Apprentice Student Forum, which was held on the digital platform specifically developed due to the pandemic conditions on 21-22 October 2021, discussed the difficulties and opportunities in the educational processes, examined the basic principles of dispute management and communication with expert trainers, participated in the entertaining activities to complete the given tasks and developed an action plan for the future.
The opening speeches of the 2nd Forum, which was held on 8-10 June with the participation of approximately one hundred and fifty attendants, were addressed by Mr. Süleyman Akgül, Head of the Workplace-Based Vocational Training Department on behalf of the General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education of the Ministry of National Education, Mr. Fuat Elvan, Project Specialist on behalf of the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK), Mrs. Feyhan Evitan Canbay, Program Manager on behalf of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, and Mr. Laurent Marion, Head of the Stability and Resilience Department on behalf of Expertise France.
The Second Forum Has Become the Voice of More Than 10 Thousand Students
In the preparation processes of the 2nd Apprentice Student Forum, the leader students, along with the leader teachers, developed solution offers to the problems identified in the first forum by establishing a dialogue with a total of 11.238 students in their schools. The students ensured the participation of business owners, sector experts, teachers and administrators as well as students in the preparatory meetings they held. The leader apprentice students rediscussed their solution offers they have developed as a result of the studies they carried out within the framework of the questions “What kind of solutions can be developed for the difficulties experienced at school and at workplace?”, “What kind of solutions can be developed to overcome the difficulties experienced in social life at school and at workplace?” on a common platform in the 2nd Apprentice Student Forum.
At the closing event of the 2nd Apprentice Student Forum, four students representing the students set on the same table with the decision makers. The representative students shared the prepared Forum Statement with influental messages and with this statement, they expressed their solution proposals to the problems identified for improvement of apprenticeship education in Türkiye, what the apprentice students should do fto achive results and their expectations from the decision makers. Thus, they have invited all actors of apprenticeship education in Türkiye to take steps together to write a new success story.
Mr. Korkut Koçak, Head of Social Partners and Projects Department on behalf of the General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education of the Ministry of National Education, Mr. Sertaç Işık, Project Specialist on behalf of the Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen of Turkey (TESK), Mr. Libor Chlad, Head of FRIT Department on behalf of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey and Mr. Laurent Marion, Head of Stability and Resilience Department on behalf of Expertise France, attended the forum on the same table with the selected leader students and listened to their approaches to the problems and their solution proposals. They expressed their messages that they would support the efforts to improve the conditions of youth receiving apprenticeship education and strengthen the students in this education system.
The implementation of the 2nd Apprentice Student Forum before the 12 June World Anti-Child Labour Day had a special meaning. İMEP|VET4JOB, which carries out its activities with a perspective that focuses on anti-child labor and the best interest of the child, contributes to anti-child labor by offering a qualified training and career option to youth by highlighting the apprenticeship education under the protection and supervision of the state for youth who are deprived of education and have to tend towards child labor. Two other apprentice forums will be organized at national level during the implementation process of İMEP|VET4JOB, thus opportunities will be created to focus on apprentice student rights and motivation will be created for apprentice students to continue and complete their training.
