EUROPEAN UNION

4. PROJECTS PREPARED TO BE UNDERTAKEN BY EU CREDITS

4.1. BASIC EDUCATION SUPPORT PROJECT

Finance Agreement of the “Basic Education Support Project” that shall be financed by the grant within the framework of European Union Mediterranean Program was signed on 03 November 1999 by the European Commission and by MONE on 04 February 2000.

General purpose: To increase the level of education in urban, rural and “gecekondu” areas in order to contribute to increasing the life standards and to support the eight-year primary education reform.

Specific purpose is to increase the average level of formal and non-formal education primarily for women and girls. It shall be implemented throughout the country especially in İstanbul, Antalya, Bursa, Mersin, Adana and the most disadvantaged provinces and “gecekondu” areas and selected provinces.

Scope: Three steps were defined in order to reach the purpose.

1. In the first part of the program planned to be completed in six years, provision of pre-service and in service continuous training for teachers is included. The National Education Academy designed with this purpose shall be completely constructed and furnished and the in service training centers in 14 provinces (Aksaray, Amasya, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, Hatay, İçel, İzmir, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Manisa, Muğla, Tokat, Van, Yalova) shall be strengthened to spread education to provinces.
2. In the second part, the 12 provinces selected within the framework of the program (Adıyaman, Ağrı, Sakarya, Ardahan, Bayburt, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Kars, Muş, Şanlıurfa and Siirt) shall be supported in order to increase the participation ratio and quality of the activities envisioned by the primary education reform (pre-school and primary education), to improve multi-purpose education centers, to provide education tools and materials and to improve the schools and teacher pensions.
3. The third part of the program consists of provision of primary school education to the adults, children and youngsters not covered by the education system in the most highly immigrated five provinces (İstanbul, Antalya, Adana, Bursa, Mersin), provision of primary education for the children, youngsters and adults out of the education system and accession to education opportunities in “gecekondu” areas.

Current situation: The opinions of MONE concerning the job descriptions in Technical Consultancy Bidding prepared by the European Commission have been notified to the EU Representation in Turkey. For the prompt initiation of the project, Basic Education Preparatory Work Plan was prepared in cooperation with EU Representation in Turkey. It is estimated that the Technical Consultancy Bidding of the Project shall be finalized in April 2001.17 provincial national directorates within the Project have established provincial project study groups. Prior to initiation of preparatory works of the Project, the provincial national education directors of the provinces covered by the project shall be invited to a study meeting of two days by MONE about the content, practices and evaluations of the project.

4.2. PROJECT ON STRENGTHENING THE VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM IN TURKEY

Finance Agreement of the “Strengthening Of Vocational Education And Training System In Turkey” that shall be financed by the grant within the framework of European Union Mediterranean Program was signed on 19 January 2000 by the European Union and by MONE, Undersecretariat of Treasury and MEKSA (Vocational and Small-Scale Industry Development Foundation) in July 2000.

Total cost of the Project: 58.190.000 EURO

Contribution of European Union: 51.000.000 EURO

Contribution of Turkish Government: 7.190.000 EURO

Term : 5 years

Purpose: In line with the demands and participation of the private sector, to increase the efficiency and quality of Vocational Education and Training in Turkey in order to create more competition between Turkish entrepreneurs and to prepare them to common market with EU.

Scope: To establish coordination between vocational education and training and the qualified human force as demanded by the private sector while supporting the Turkish reforms that try to bridge the existing gap. The main purpose of the structural reform supported by the program is to further improve the qualified labor force answering the needs of the labor market and to increase the competition between the entrepreneurs.

Current Situation: The opinions of MONE concerning the job descriptions in Technical Consultancy Bidding prepared by the European Commission have been notified to the EU Representation in Turkey. Project implementation is expected to start in 2000.

4.3. PROJECT ON MODERNIZATION OF VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The Project planned to be financed through grants within the framework of MEDA was approved by European Commission and the Finance Agreement was signed by European Union, MONE and Undersecretariat of Treasury on 25 July 1997.

Total cost of the Project: 18.500.000 EURO

Contribution of European Union: 14.000.000 EURO

Contribution of Turkish Government: 4.500.000 EURO

Term: 4 years

Beneficiary institution: MONE

Purpose of the Project: To increase the quality, suitability and productivity of vocational and technical education at the level of intermediate labor force by using suitable programs and equipment, to develop the performance and quality of teachers, to improve the research and development capacities of vocational and technical education and training institutions.

Scope:

• Adapting vocational and technical education to the necessities of industry by cooperating with employing institutions or/and developing the existing cooperation,
• Production of more efficient and suitable programs for education of technicians in the selected technical high schools,
• To increase the efficiency and quality of education in 19 pilot schools in 11 provinces (12 Industry Vocational High School, 5 Vocational High School for Girls, 2 Anadolu Communication Vocational High School) by equipping their ateliers in 8 vocational areas that have high employment potential (automatic command, (CNC), electronics, electric, computer, aircraft maintenance, electronic cooling and airing, communication and information technologies and hospitality and food technology),
• To provide the necessary human resources, flexible structures and buildings in 5 of the selected schools for the teachers to have in service training,
• To strengthen the research and development capacity of MONE through technical assistance and education,

Current Situation: The Project implementation could not be initiated until now due to the delay in signing of the framework agreement on general operation of projects between the European Union and Undersecretariat of Treasury. For this reason, a request was transmitted to the European Union for extending the starting and closing dates of the project and this request was found suitable.

When the time after the signing of the Finance Agreement has been taken into account, to make changes in project schools and vocational areas had come to agenda.

The European Union has prepared an annex agreement regarding the project and submitted it to MONE. Examinations are ongoing.

Project implementation is expected to be started by the beginning of 2001.

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Ministry Of National Education
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