The 3rd term of the “My English Opportunity Program with the Support of Good Sabancı”, implemented by Esas Social to facilitate the transition process of university students from school to work and to provide equal opportunities, has started. This year, 250 young people participated in the program, which receives applications from all over Turkey, with a special quota for students in the earthquake zone.
Established in 2000 by the late Şevket Sabancı and his family, Esas Holding, one of Turkey's leading investment companies, has been creating a sustainable and measurable impact on youth and employment since 2015 with its social benefit-oriented investment unit Esas Social. Main Social programs, which focus on empowering young people who need equal opportunity in transition to employment due to the lack of knowledge of the name of the university, and received more than 30 thousand applications so far; It aims to enable young people to step into professional life as well-equipped, self-confident and high-aware individuals.
In line with this goal, the motto of "Equality of Social Opportunity Provides" is realized with the vision of Şevket Sabancı, First Opportunity, My English Opportunity with the Support of Good Sabancı, and a wide ecosystem of 3.500 people created around the Alumni Programs, contributing to the development of young people.
The English Opportunity Program with the Support of Good Sabancı, which was prepared as a solution model to the foreign language problem, which is one of the biggest obstacles faced by young people in the recruitment process in 2021, attracted great attention this year as well. The Program, which aims to increase the English proficiency of young people studying at state universities, which are less known by employers; Beyond being a language program, it also offers experiences that will facilitate the transition of young people to professional life. Participating young people receive English education from Berlitz Language Schools in 12 courses online live classes for 3 months and graduate with at least an intermediate level of foreign language. Program; It strengthens the English language skills of young people through activities such as CV preparation in English, one-to-one English and interview coaching, and contributes to becoming more self-confident and competent individuals in business life. English Opportunity Program with the Support of Good Sabancı, which offers equal opportunities to young people; It is cited as an exemplary practice by Berlitz, with its feature of having the highest continuity rate among the programs realized by Berlitz with its business partnerships in Turkey.
This year, 3 young people from 600 different state universities from 81 cities applied to the program, which offers 120 young people the opportunity to study English in 4.400 years. After a careful preliminary evaluation, young people with a high enthusiasm for learning English in telephone interviews, excited and with a developed awareness were accepted to the program. 32% of the 250 participants, 72% of whom were included in the earthquake zone, were determined as a result of the evaluations made regardless of the department, and 28% were men. Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt, Manisa Celal Bayar, Kocaeli, Eskişehir Osmangazi, Adana Çukurova, Konya Selçuk and Bursa Uludağ University were the universities where the participants, 81% of whom lived in cities outside of Istanbul and studied at 68 different universities, had the most education.
Third term participants; He attended the orientation event held online on May 3 from different cities of Turkey and met with Esas Holding's senior management. Emine Sabancı Kamışlı, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Esas Holding, especially the program's supporter and Member of the Board of Founders of Esas Social, Emine Sabancı Kamışlı had the chance to listen to Ali Sabancı, Chairman of the Board of Esas Holding, and Çağatay Özdogru, the CEO and Member of the Board of Esas Holding.
Supporting the program, Hayirli Sabancı shared his experiences with examples from his own life; “You young people are our hope. It is our duty to nurture, develop and grow you. As you know, the importance of a foreign language in both social and professional life is increasing day by day. In the age of constantly developing technology, English proficiency is among the sine qua non. It makes me and the Esas Social team very happy that the English Opportunity Program, which we have implemented with the support of Benevolent Sabancı, has attracted great interest. Main Social team; While implementing this program bearing my name, I combined the vision of my late wife, Şevket Sabancı, with my support, aiming to eliminate the foreign language problem in front of you young people and to prepare you for professional life. We see that the new generation is very eager to improve themselves and take a step forward. My late wife Şevket Sabancı used to say, “I trust education the most for success”. It is my biggest dream to make his belief in education sustainable. It is very valuable for me to touch young minds, to witness their bright ideas and imaginations, and to stay in touch with young people while making my dream come true. Life is a journey, and one of the easiest things to take with you on this journey is to learn a language. I am very happy to give this opportunity to young people with the English My Opportunity Program. I wish this opportunity to be instrumental in growing your successes.”
Emine Sabancı Kamışlı, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Esas Holding, said, “Today we are here for the beginning of a new era. We are just as excited and joyful as young people. We; We feel responsible for encouraging, guiding and holding the young people's hands to climb the stairs one by one. With this sense of responsibility, we are happy to support young people who are our hope. As you know, As Esas Social, we develop solution models to ensure that young people have equal opportunities. One of them is the English Opportunity Program, which we launched with the support of my beloved mother, Hayirli Sabancı. Within the scope of the program, we are constantly working to reach more young people and touch their lives every year. You, whom we meet here today, have been meticulously selected from among thousands of candidates. That's why you should be proud of yourself. We are very happy that you are a part of the Core Social Ecosystem and that our ecosystem is growing, you are all welcome. The greatest value of our country is undoubtedly its educated young population, and we will continue to do our best so that you, our valuable young people, discover their potential.”
All details about the program can be accessed at englishfirsatim.org.