Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer announced that as of this month, high school and university graduates will start the program that allows them to complete the vocational training center program in a field they want in a short time like 6-8 months and to enter the labor market with employment guarantee.
Minister of National Education Özer explained the details of the new vocational training program with employment guarantee, which will be carried out by the Ministry through vocational training centers for high school and university graduates.
Stating that it is one of the goals of these centers to enable those with a high school or higher education to benefit from vocational training completion programs with employment guarantee, if they wish, Özer gave the following information: We are launching the program, which provides the opportunity to complete in a short period of time such as a month and to enter the employment-guaranteed labor market. Our starting point here is: If there is a serious need to find personnel in any field, for example in the field of welding, to come together with all businesses related to this field and to organize a 6 or 8 month training completion program in order to meet the need for that personnel in a short time without waiting 4 years for graduation from vocational training centers. To ensure the participation of high school and university graduates here, to provide education by sectors that want to meet their staff needs, and to employ successful ones 6 months later, when they graduate. As of this month, we will gradually launch this program in a widespread manner all over Turkey.”
Stating that at the moment, it is possible to register by going directly to the vocational training centers, Özer said, “As the vocational training center completion programs, employment will be guaranteed, the process will be continued in the relevant cities by starting the process, its announcement and applications for that announcement. Since there will be high school or university graduates in the completion program, it will not be necessary to take culture courses, and the application will be carried out entirely in on-the-job training and within the scope of the curriculum you will create together with the sector. The successful ones will also be employed by the demanding sector.” said. Stating that they aim to maximize the supply-demand matching in the labor market with all these plans, Minister Özer added that they aim to eliminate skill mismatches by rapidly shifting graduates from fields that do not have employment gaps to areas that are needed in the labor market.
The financial burden on the employer has been removed
Reminding that with the amendment made in the Vocational Education Law No. 3308 on December 25, 2021, an important regulation was made regarding the students attending the vocational education center, Özer emphasized that a very attractive mechanism was created by removing the financial burden on the employer. Özer noted that 4 percent of the minimum wage paid by the students who attended these centers for 30 years was covered by the employer, some of them were subsidized by the state, and with the new regulation, the state started to cover the entire one-third of the wage.
Stating that those who are successful in these centers are “foreman” at the end of the third year and those who are successful after one year of education in the last year are “masters”, Özer said that with the new regulation, the amount paid to journeymen is increased from 30 percent of the minimum wage to 50 percent. Minister Özer stated that those who have worked as a "master" for 10 years or more and documented this in the SGK records can directly take the exam to become a "master instructor" without any training, and continued as follows: . After these 3 regulations were made, we saw that there was an incredible increase in the number of students in a short period of one month. It is a very attractive model especially for small and medium-sized businesses and students. The fact that there is no age limit in vocational training centers is a huge advantage. A mechanism where students of all ages can become students of our citizens of all ages. Before the change in the law, the number of students in these centers was 159 thousand, now it has increased to 280 thousand. In a short time like one month, the number of students increased by 76 percent.” said.
The first goal is to introduce 1 million people to the centers this year.
Pointing out that the primary purpose of the Ministry is to increase the capacity of vocational training centers and that the new law amendment enables this, Özer stated that an active field work has been started on this subject and these centers continue to be introduced to families, chambers of commerce and industry. Minister Özer reminded that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan set “the goal of introducing 2022 million citizens to vocational training centers in 1” and continued his words as follows: “Currently, the system is progressing very successfully. As the Ministry, our first goal is to match nearly 1 million citizens with vocational training centers. There really is that potential. The sectors that will be most positively affected by this transformation in vocational education in Turkey will be small and medium-sized enterprises. Thus, this excuse in the labor market, which complains about not being able to find apprentices, masters and journeymen, will completely disappear.”
Minister Özer stated that vocational training centers were established in all organized industrial zones with physical facilities and liaison offices were established in those that do not, so that citizens can receive vocational training services in enterprises very easily.
Vocational training centers, the Turkish equivalent of dual vocational training in Germany
When asked about the similarities between this new model in education and the vocational education model in Germany, Minister Özer said, “Vocational training centers are the equivalent of dual vocational education in Germany in Turkey. At the same time, our Seljuk is an original equivalent of the ahi-order system from the Ottoman Empire, and the traditional apprenticeship, journeyman and master training model in Turkey.” made its assessment.
Pointing out that the students in the vocational training centers have a great advantage in terms of practice skills, Özer said that the students who come to school only one day a week receive active training in real business environments in businesses all the rest of the days. Noting that the employment rate of those who graduated from vocational education centers is much higher than those who graduated from vocational technical Anatolian high schools, Özer said that the employment rate of these graduates in the field they received education is around 88 percent. Underlining that 75 percent of the graduates of vocational training centers continue to work in the enterprises where they have been trained for 4 years, Özer said, "This system has been used for years, especially from small and medium-sized enterprises, which are related to vocational education. will make his rhetoric completely history. On the one hand, small and medium-sized enterprises will have much more qualified human resources. Therefore, this will be reflected in their products, and the quality of the products they produce and the services they provide will increase.” he said.
Citizens of all ages can enroll in vocational training centers.
Emphasizing the importance of reducing the youth unemployment rate in the labor market, Özer said, “The regulation that entered into force at the end of 2021 marks a historical breaking point in this sense. From now on, the vocational training center will have completely solved this problem by including its contribution to training and processes in order to train the human resources demanded by the labor market and without any financial burden on the employer.” used the expressions. Pointing out that the biggest advantage of vocational training centers is that they appeal to all ages, Özer said, “They do not only appeal to the education age population. In other words, it is sufficient for our citizens to be graduated from secondary school only. Therefore, our citizens of all ages, 25, 30, 40, who are secondary school graduates… This also plays a very important role in terms of employment of our women and constitutes an attractive model for them. There is also no time limit, they can easily find the necessary businesses by contacting the vocational training centers at any time and enroll in the vocational training centers. In this sense, it has a very flexible model.” he said.
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