Projects for the promotion of vocational training in Turkey
The BGZ is able to reflect on a long history of successful project work in Turkey. We have been focussing on the support of local SMEs since 1984. The BGZ was originally founded as “Berliner Gesellschaft für deutsch-türkische Zusammenarbeit mbH” (Berlin Agency for German-Turkish Economic Cooperation Ltd.). We worked closely with the MEKSA, Foundation for the Promotion of Vocational Training and Small Industry in Turkey, to implement projects for the qualification of skilled workers and managers, for consultation on business start-ups and to strengthen self-regulatory bodies.
Precedent: The dual system
All the BGZ projects in Turkey have one thing in common: they provide assistance for self-help in setting up technical vocational and further training centres and in promoting SMEs in Turkey. The dual vocational training system in Germany has set the precedent. Positive experiences with BGZ projects led to the amendment of the Turkish vocational education laws in 1986, laws which are still valid today.
Joint responsibility and individual contribution
The first trip to Istanbul and Izmir took place in 1983. Industrial sites with hundreds of small and medium-sized business, all in the same trade, had emerged on the outskirts of the cities, but they lacked specialists. An idea came about to establish a vocational training centre on these industrial sites. The prime condition for success is the motivation of those involved: it had to be their project. An agreement was signed, in which local authorities committed to individual contribution and consequent continuation of the projects.
MEKSA – all partners at the round table
The foundation of MEKSA took place in 1985. As with the BGZ, both the private and public sectors are involved in this institution. MEKSA is gradually taking over the vocational training projects.
The projects provide the following support: the supply of machines and tools, train-the-trainer courses (usually with the support of the Berlin Chamber of Small Business and Skilled Crafts), the development of curricula and teaching material, apprenticeships and master exams based on the German model. In 18 industry-wide vocational and further training centres in 12 cities in Turkey, approximately 10.000 apprentices have been trained in 13 recognised trades over 30 years.
The promoters
The training centres, which emerged across the nation, are the result of an early public-private partnership. They were promoted by the German Federal ministries BMZ/GTZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development/German Society for Technical Cooperation); BMWA (Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour); and companies such as Bayer, Mannesmann, Ruhrkohle or Thyssen Stahl.
“The BGZ provides help for self-help in setting up technical vocational and further training centres in a most exemplary manner. […] I am especially pleased to see how the good Berlin model has become widespread. In this way, the private and public sector in Turkey and in Germany have set a successful example of a close and trusting partnership.”
Project overview
1) Promotion of in-company training in Turkey. Training and further training in retail
Implemented in: Ankara
Donor: GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation)
Duration: 1991-1992
Partner: MEKSA Ankara
Implementation of short-term vocational training, especially for women and girls, in order to improve employment opportunities.
2) Vocational training for women and girls: Training as office clerks in South-eastern Anatolia
Implemented in: Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa and Erzurum/Turkey
Donor: DEZA (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)
Duration: 1997-2000
Partners: MEKSA, Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Diyarbakir and Sanliurfa, Turkish Ministry for Education, local businesses, local trade associations and chambers, Diyarbakir and Sanliurfa municipalities.
Introduction of a vocational training model for office clerks.
3) Promotion of in-company training in Turkey. Vocational training for master motor mechanics and master industrial craftsmen
Implemented in: Ankara, Bursa, Diyarbakir, Istanbul and Izmir
Donor: GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation)
Duration: 1989-1996
Partners: MEKSA Ankara, Turkish Ministry for Education
Introduction of a vocational training model for master industrial mechanics and master motor mechanics.
4) Promotion of in-company training in Turkey. Vocational training for electricians
Implemented in: Konya
Donor: GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation)
Duration: 1993-1999
Partners: MEKSA Ankara, TESK (Confederation of Turkish Craftsmen and Tradesmen), HWK (Chamber of Small Business and Skilled Craft) Konya
Introduction of a vocational training model for electricians.
5) Promotion of in-company training in Turkey. Vocational training for motor mechanics, machinists and toolmakers
Implemented in: Adana, Ankara, Bursa, Diyarbakir, Istanbul and Izmir
Duration: 1984-2002
Donor: GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation)
Partners: MEKSA Ankara, Bayer AG, Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG, Turkish Ministry for Education, Chamber of Industry in Istanbul, TOBB (umbrella association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry)
Introduction of a vocational training model for motor mechanics, machinists and toolmakers.
6) Promotion of in-companytraining in Turkey. Vocational training for shoemakers
Implemented in: Izmir
Donor: GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation)
Duration: 1993-1998
Partners: MEKSA Ankara and Izmir
Introduction of a vocational training model for shoemakers.
7) Promotion of in-company training in Turkey. Vocational training for carpenters and cabinetmakers
Implemented in: Bursa and Eskisehir, Izmir and Diyarbakir
Donor: GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation)
Duration: 1988-2001
Partners: MEKSA Ankara and Bayer AG Leverkusen
Introduction of a vocational training model for carpenters, joiners and cabinetmakers.
8) Promotion of in-company training in Turkey. Vocational training in tourism
Implemented in: Marmaris, Ankara and Köycegiz
Donors: GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation) and BMA (Federal Ministry of Labour)
Duration: 1995-2001
Partners: MEKSA Ankara and the Turkish Ministry for Tourism
Introduction of a vocational training model for qualified restaurant and hotel employees, cooks and waiters/waitresses.
9) Vocational training for men in South Anatolia
Implemented in: Sanliurfa and Gaziantep/Turkey
Donor: DEZA (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)
Duration: 1992-2000
Partners: MEKSA, IHK (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) Sanliurfa, Turkish Ministry for Education, local businesses, collaboration with local trade associations and chambers, as well as with the Gaziantep and Sanliurfa municipalities.
Introduction of vocational training model for motor mechanics, agricultural machinery mechanics, machinists, lathe operators and welders.
10) Promotion of vocational integration of Turkish guest workers and their children by adopting infrastructure and reintegration measures in industrial-technical areas
Implemented in: Adana, Ankara and Zonguldak
Donor: BMA (Federal Ministry of Labour)
Duration: 1990-1995
Partners: Ruhrkohle AG, Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG, Bayer AG Leverkusen, MEKSA Ankara, as well as local Turkish Chambers of Small Business and Skilled Crafts, and guilds
Introduction of vocational training model for machinists, motor mechanics, electricians, carpenters and cabinetmakers.
11) Promotion of vocational integration of Turkish guest workers and their children by adopting infrastructure and reintegration measures in the hotel and restaurant trade
Implemented in: Icmeler and Konya
Donor: BMA (Federal Ministry of Labour)
Duration: 1995-1999
Partners: MEKSA Ankara, Hotelfachschule Hamburg (College of Hotel Management)
Reintegration of young Turkish people (children of immigrants) from the Federal Republic of Germany and the reinforcement of dual vocational training as an instrument of integration.
Project photos
Projektdetails
Implemented in:
Turkey
Duration:
1984 – 2002
Partners in Germany:
Bayer AG Leverkusen, Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG, Ruhrkohle AG, College of Hotel Management Hamburg
Transnational partners:
MEKSA, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Istanbul, Diyarbakir and Sanliurfa, Chamber of Small Business and Skilled Crafts Konya, Turkish Ministry for Education, Confederation of Turkish Craftsmen and Tradesmen (TESK), Umbrella association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TOBB), Turkish Ministry for Tourism, Municipalities in Diyarbakir, Gaziantep and Sanliurfa
Contact:
Dr. Hilde Hansen
Tel. +49(30)809941-16
hansen@bgz-berlin.de
Donors:
Federal Ministry of Labour (BMA), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (DEZA), German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ)