Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Minister Özer, in his statement on the subject, stated that with the paradigm change, vocational education has now turned into a type of education that sheds light on the future of the country and gives hope to people and society, “We are constantly working to train the sought-after staff of the sector in our vocational high schools and vocational training centers. Today, vocational education is a type of education that carries out innovative studies with patent, utility model, trademark and design registrations and can offer high added value to the country's economy. I believe that our students and graduates who receive education in these schools and institutions will add value to the companies they work with. For this reason, I invite our companies within TOBB to recruit intern students and graduates from vocational high schools and vocational training centers that have made a name for themselves with their success stories.”

- “We are strengthening vocational education”

Stating that they are constantly strengthening vocational education to support the country's prosperity and development, to reduce the youth unemployment rate and look to the future with hope, Özer said, “I believe that the private sector will add energy to vocational education and vocational education will add energy to our private sector.”

Minister Mahmut Özer stated that with the protocol, those who work in the member enterprises of the program and who have not completed their education life for any reason or who want to obtain a mastery certificate in a different field can also be included in the vocational training process and receive expertise certificates.

- Call from Hisarcıklıoğlu to companies

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they have opened another productive field of work with the Ministry of National Education on vocational education with the ‘My Profession My Life’ Work and Internship Program Protocol and said, “With the protocol, we aim to raise awareness about vocational education in large-scale enterprises and SMEs operating in the national and international arena and to meet qualified human resources from vocational education, thus channeling more students towards vocational education. With the protocol, services will be provided to determine the needs of the member enterprises of the program in terms of human resources and to meet these needs from vocational training, students and graduates will be provided with internship in these enterprises and matching programs will be carried out for their employment.”

Emphasizing that vocational education has two important pillars, student-graduate and teacher, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Turkey’s private sector is robust with expansive knowledge and experience. We need to transfer this knowledge and experience to the vocational education system and ensure that our students graduate equipped with this knowledge. We will match schools with educational experts within the companies that are members of the program. After the matching, these people will be able to work with the field teachers in the trainings organized in the schools and transfer their knowledge and experience to students. This part of the protocol will be carried out entirely on a voluntary basis.”

In this context, Hisarcıklıoğlu called on all enterprises that are members of the Chamber-Commodity Exchange to be included in the program.

- How will companies apply to the program?

· In order to request an intern from vocational training, companies must fill out the application form at https://anket.tobb.org.tr/#/anket/meslegim-hayatim.

· Then, students will be matched with the requesting companies.

 - What are the supports provided?

· Regardless of the number of employees in the enterprise, students who go to internship will be paid 1,276 TL per month, and students attending the 12^th grade of the Vocational Training Center will be paid a monthly fee of 2,126 TL.

· These fees will be covered by the government. There will be no additional obligations for employers.