17.01.2023 ANKARA
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) introduced the Vocational Skills Mobilization program, launched to support the professional skills development of young people, at TOBB Twin Towers.
The Union of Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in
his speech here, said that under Özer’s leadership, they have accomplished good
deeds, especially in vocational education.
Stating that they came
together on the occasion of the Vocational Skills Mobilization, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said, “As the private sector, we complained about not being able to find
qualified employees and that vocational education did not meet the needs of the
private sector. We wanted public-private sector cooperation in vocational
education to increase and the role of the private sector to be strengthened. We
wanted vocational training to be the most important infrastructure in meeting
the human resources of the private sector.This has been on our agenda for 20 years. We
have received both great support and important actions from our minister in
this regard.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that vocational education has become the center of attraction of the education
world again, and that the most concrete example of this situation is seen in
the results of the High School Transition System (LGS) placement.
Hisarcıklıoğlu reported
that the occupancy rate of vocational high schools in LGS 2022 is 95 percent,
and the number of students in vocational training centers is approaching 1.5
million.
Hisarcıklıoğlu said,
“With the campaign we call Vocational Skills Mobilization, UNICEF Job Advisory
Board members, Türkiye’s leading business institutions and companies are
committed to recruiting interns from vocational training and providing
employment. I invite all companies in our country to participate in this
campaign and to take on interns from vocational training and to provide
employment.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that as the Ministry of National Education and TOBB, they work together to
improve the quality of vocational education and to ensure that students prefer
vocational education, and emphasized that human capital is the chance of the
competitiveness of the private sector.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that they believe the priority issue of the country is education and they work
with the awareness that there can never be any loss from the investment made in
education.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
underlined that they are preparing young people for the future by investing in
vocational education, and stated that as Türkiye’s entrepreneurial power, they
will continue to invest in the future of the country.
- “This is a revolution in vocational education”
Minister of National
Education Mahmut Özer stated that TOBB is one of the most important
stakeholders in strengthening education and increasing access to education.
Emphasizing that an
important step was taken to strengthen employment ability by increasing
professional skills with the agreement made, Özer said, “We need to increase
the intertransitivity of the labor market and education processes. We need to
make the working environment of the labor market a part of education so that we
can be strong in vocational education.”
Pointing out that
vocational training centers constitute a type of education that meets the need
for apprentices, journeymen and masters, and in this context, does not leave
the master without apprentices and journeymen, Özer said that this education
culture is equivalent to the culture of “akhism” that has been going on for
hundreds of years.
Özer stated that the
number of apprentices and trainees, which was 159,000 at the end of 2021, has
reached 1.3 million as of today, and said, “This is really a revolution in
vocational education.”
Pointing out that the
discourse of ‘not being able to find the desired employee’ is history,
especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, Özer said, “If they can no
longer find the employee they are looking for, they have a problem with the
price. Because there are enough graduates in the market. The process works very
efficiently.”
Pointing out that the
rate of young people who are not involved in either education or employment is
a risk for every country and that young people should be either in education or
employment, Özer said, “After the move we have made in vocational training
centers, the net rate of 2022 will fall to the OECD average. Because 81 percent
of the 1.3 million apprentices and journeymen are over the age of 18.”
Explaining that women’s
employment will also increase thanks to the mobilization move between the
Ministry of National Education, TOBB and UNICEF, Özer said, “Every step taken
in education has the potential to improve not only in that area, but also in
every field related to that area.”
Emphasizing that there
is a misperception that ‘child labor is increasing’ regarding the steps taken
in vocational education recently, Özer said, “I do not know where this comes
from. Vocational training centers are not an employment program. Vocational
training centers are a training program. Therefore, we are perturbed by the
expression ‘child labor’ and the kinds of perception it leads to.”
- “I invite all corporate companies and employers to give
opportunities to young people”
Regina De Dominicis,
UNICEF Representative in Türkiye, expressed appreciation for the Vocational
Skills Mobilization, noting young people will achieve great gains in the
transition from learning to earning.
Stating that changes in
skills should be ensured with the emergence of new types of jobs in the
changing and transforming world, Dominicis said that they continue to work in
this context.
Dominicis noted the
reason why employment rates around the world are below the desired is the
market mismatch with the employer.
Thanking Minister Özer
for his contributions to the prioritization of vocational education in Türkiye,
Dominicis stated that the mobilization will pave the way for young people to
use their skills effectively and to participate in employment more easily.
“The perception of
vocational and technical education is changing. I am very hopeful about this
mobilization. I invite all corporate companies and employers in Türkiye to give
opportunities to young people.”