The “Awareness Meeting: Apprentice Students on the Path of Mastery” which was prepared in cooperation with Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education and Ankara Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (ANKESOB) as part of the Vocational Training Program for Employment (IMEP) carried out by Expertise France and EDUSER in partnership with the General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education (MTEGM) of the Ministry of National Education and the Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) as beneficiaries, was held in Ankara on June 12, 2023, to coincide with the World Day Against Child Labor.
Opening speeches at the meeting held at CP Ankara Hotel were delivered by Huseyin Ar, Deputy Chairman of ANKESOB; Feyhan Canbay, Socioeconomic Development Program Manager at the European Union Delegation to Turkey; Dr. Murat Cangul, Secretary General of TESK; and Suleyman Akgul, Head of the MTEGM Workplace Based Vocational Education Department of the Ministry of National Education.
The Awareness Meeting “Apprentice Students on the Path of Mastery” focused on the roles of apprentice students, schools, families and businesses in apprenticeship training and highlighted the roles and responsibilities of these actors in the quartet cooperation. The meeting presentation emphasized the importance of protecting children from conditions that expose them to economic exploitation and hinder their education, which negatively affects their health and physical development, indicating that this is a social responsibility according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. During the meeting, apprentice students studying at Ankara Siteler Vocational Training Center, one of the IMEP practice schools, took the floor and shared their solution suggestions developed for their problems identified in the Apprentice Student Forums in order to contribute to the development of apprenticeship training with the participants.
As part of the activities to combat child labor for businesses that provide hands-on training to apprentice students within the scope of the Vocational Training Program for Employment (IMEP), Awareness Meetings “Apprentice Students on the Path of Mastery” will be held in cooperation with Provincial Directorates of National Education, local organizations of TESK, and Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (ESOB) in all provinces where the program is implemented.
