President of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar said that they manage policy development and decision-making processes with a data and evidence-based approach, and they continue to work towards this.
Stating that they give priority to the employment of more vocational school graduates in the industrial sector in terms of both quantity and quality, Özvar reminded that they support the manufacturing sector and logistics related programs in Vocational Schools established in OIZs within the scope of the University-Industry Education Project they developed for this purpose.
Stating that data is collected from the vocational high schools that receive support in order to monitor whether the supports provided by YÖK are used effectively and efficiently, Özvar said that they prepared the “General Evaluation Report of Vocational Schools Established in Organized Industrial Zones” based on these data and the on-site supervision and evaluation reports of the academicians, and in line with the principle of transparency. reported that they brought it to the attention of stakeholders and the public.
“We see the employment of Vocational School graduates in their OIZ as our primary goal”
Erol Özvar explained that public institutions and organizations in Turkey make serious administrative, financial and economic efforts to increase labor force participation and employment rates, and that universities play an important role in achieving this goal.
Pointing out that higher education has a decisive effect on the employment of young people in the business world and industry, Özvar said that they aim to train students according to the needs of industry and business world, to know the job market, to increase their business skills and employment, and to strengthen university-industry cooperation with the education incentive given to Vocational Schools. told.
Stating that as YÖK, they use this incentive mechanism to ensure that vocational school students are trained in a qualified manner and to increase their labor force participation rate in the industry in line with these goals, Özvar continued as follows:
“The production, employment and industry sectors in OIZs have a unique atmosphere. With the University-Industry Education Project, we try to ensure that our students grow up in the unique atmosphere of the industry. Considering that youth unemployment is seen as a fundamental problem in every country today, young people who graduated from Vocational Schools It is clear how important it is for them to find a job without losing their job and to be employed in the OIZ they are in.”
Number of supported programs increased to 30
prof. Dr. Erol Özvar stated that they provide support to 17 different associate degree programs related to the professions determined for the manufacturing sector and logistics areas where the country needs qualified personnel, and listed these programs supported in the 2020-2021 academic year as follows:
“Alternative energy sources technology, biomedical device technology, digital factory technologies, electricity/electrical power generation, transmission and distribution, electronic technology, industrial product design, industrial molding, food technology, air conditioning and cooling technology, welding technology, chemical technology, logistics, machinery, mechatronics, automotive technology, polymer technology and textile technology.”
Expressing that vocational schools can forward new programs they want to be supported for the manufacturing and logistics sectors to YÖK, Özvar said that the support they give to these programs that carry out education in OIZs together with practice, increased the number of programs that received support to 30 in the 2022-2023 academic year. reported that they were removed.
The effects of universities on employment will be shared with the public soon
Erol Özvar stated that the fact that this project, which brings together the workplace and classrooms, resulted in the employment of more Vocational School graduates, prompted YÖK to invest more in this field.
Noting that they expect universities to monitor the employment processes of their graduates more closely, Özvar said, “I can say that the accumulated data on this issue has started to give clues about the effects of our universities on the quality and capacity of employment supply. We will share these data with the public in the coming days.” said.
Performance evaluation was made with 30 indicators
Stating that they take into account 30 indicators in the performance evaluation of the programs that are given educational support, Özvar said that the training incentives for the vocational school and the program, which could not show enough success in the performance evaluation, were cut off.
In this context, Özvar stated that the educational support of 9 programs in OIZ Vocational Schools with poor performance in 2022 was temporarily cut off, and that these programs were re-evaluated in 2023 and those whose performances improved began to receive support again.
“Educational support per student increased by about 20 percent”
Evaluating the budget support data included in the Report of Vocational Schools Established in Organized Industrial Zones, Özvar concluded his words as follows:
“While 33 programs in 8 vocational schools benefited from approximately 9 million liras of educational support in the 2017-2018 academic year, 62 programs in 15 vocational schools benefited from approximately 21 million liras of educational support in the 2020-2021 academic year.
The number of students in Vocational Schools benefiting from the support, on the other hand, reached 3 thousand 978 with an increase of more than 100 percent from 1970. While the education support given per student in the 2017-2018 academic year was approximately 4 thousand 500 liras, this amount reached approximately 5 thousand 400 liras in the 2020-2021 academic year. In the four-year period, education support per student increased by approximately 20 percent. In the 2022-2023 academic year, 29 million 913 thousand 75 TL educational support was given to 4 thousand 315 students studying in 74 programs in 16 vocational schools established in the OIZ. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the amount of education support provided per student reached an average of 6 thousand 932 liras.
