“My Apprentice Students on their Way to Mastership” awareness-raising meetings drawing attention to the struggle against child labour have been organised as part of the Vocational Training for Employment Programme (İMEP/VET4JOB) supported by the European Union. These events have taken place in each of the provinces in which the programme is being implemented.
The last two of the 12 meetings, which targeted entrepreneurs and master trainers in workplaces in which apprentice students are receiving their practical training, were held in Istanbul and Hatay. The Istanbul meeting was jointly organised by the Istanbul provincial directorate of National Education and the Istanbul Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (İSTESOB) on November 23rd, and the opening address was delivered by İSTESOB president Faik Yılmaz. The Hatay meeting was jointly organised by the Hatay provincial directorate of National Education and the Hatay Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (HESOB) on December 1st 2023, and opening speeches were made by Mustafa Karasu, the deputy provincial director of National Education in Hatay, and HESOB president Aziz Fatih Yılmaz.
At the “My Apprentice Students on their Way to Mastership” awareness-raising meetings, the entrepreneurs were informed about the harms done by child labour and about the conditions that expose children to economic exploitation, arrest their education and negatively affect their health and physical development. Awareness was raised on the issue and it was stressed that it was a social responsibility to place children within a ring of protection. In addition, an interactive evaluation was conducted of the duties and responsibilities of the apprentice student, the school, the family and the employer – the actors in the four-way cooperation for apprenticeship training.
Apprentice students from the schools implementing İMEP took the stage during the meetings to appeal to employers and share with them their proposed solutions for the problems identified during the Apprentice Student Forums so as to contribute to the implementation of apprenticeship training under improved conditions. The leader apprentice students stated that they wanted to feel like students, and called on business owners and school administrators to respect their rights as students.
