YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

ROUND TABLE MEETINGS FINAL REPORT

July 2011 Prepared by Derya Klalp

Contents
1-INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Objective of the study ......................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Activities ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 4

2- Institutional meetings ................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Institutional Interviews- Evaluation notes for institutional interviews ................................... 8 2.2 Youth Perception A perspective for the needs and expectations of the youth...................... 8 2.3 Effects of social gender perception on the employment of the youth ..................................... 9 2.4 Institutional collaborations- Problems in data gathering and analysis ................................ 10 2.5 Supply and demand discrepancy in workforce market ........................................................ 10

3. Evaluation of institutional interviews in accordance with focus group meetings with the youth .............................................................................................................................. 13
3.1 School and Branch Selection .............................................................................................. 13 3.2 Examination System .......................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Internship ......................................................................................................................... 15 3.4 Methods for job seearch and recruitment .......................................................................... 16 3.5 Effects of not looking at the employment problem as a "young individual" ......................... 17

4. Recommendations by young people ............................................................................ 18 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 19 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 22

APPENDIX 1 INSTITUTIONAL INTERVIEWS ................................................................................ 22 APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................ 46

1-INTRODUCTION There are numerous studies and projects on youth employment, carried out in collaboration by public, private and NGO sectors. These institutions concede that problems concerning youth employment cannot be addressed by disjointed efforts and hence collaborate in the field. Leaving out the lack of integration of efforts in these matters as the basic problem in youth policies in Turkey, the most important issue requiring attention is the access of young people to the mechanisms developed and supplied by the state. With reference to Youth Employment Program1 by International Labor Organization and 9th National Development Program2 there appears to be an urgent need for the mechanisms that increase the employability of youth in Turkey. On the other hand, there needs to be concrete and result oriented measures in order to increase youth employment. These measures need to include both vocational training programs that aim to equip young people with qualifications in line with market demands and internship programs that prepare young people for business life. The crucial issue is developing models through which young people can easily comprehend and express themselves. Consequently, existing and new mechanisms need to be redesigned in accordance with the needs and demands of young people, and new tools and opportunities should be presented for the youth, enabling them to utilize the information they acquired. Tools provided by social media and internet constitute important opportunities in this context. Accordingly, this study which arose from the need to analyze the current conditions of the parties has been carried out through interviews with public institutions that work on youth employment, and young people. The major headlines in our analysis include: Opportunities and mechanisms offered by public institutions in Turkey Access to services and its consequences Problems faced by public institutions during service and determining the needs accordingly Determining the needs and demands of young people who are existing and potential beneficiaries of these services.

1http://www.ilo.org/public/turkish/region/eurpro/ankara/areas/youth/2_08_nap_guide_tr.pdf 2 http://www.sp.gov.tr/documents/KP2007-2013.pdf

1.1 Objective of the study The objective of this study is to analyze the condition of public institutions and young people in the employment phase by means of interviews and to propose a mapping study in order to reform employment mechanisms into a youth friendlier pattern. The study has been carried out by Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG) in partnership with World Bank and with the support of Education Reform Initiative (ERI) and Ko Holding. 1.2 Activities I Youth Employment Round Table Meetings, Focus Group Meetings with Youth During May and June, 30 young people from different sections of vocational and technical high schools have been interviewed 3 times in Istanbul (2) and Samsun (1). The interviews focused on their education, employment processes and internships, their expectations from the future and youth perception. II- Youth Employment Round Table Meetings, Meetings with institutions who present employment opportunities Interview component of the mapping study has been completed with a series of institutional meetings carried out in June. Following institutions have been interviewed during these series: General Directorate of Technical Education for Boys, General Directorate of Commerce and Tourism Education, General Directorate of Apprenticeship and Mass Education, General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls, KOSGEB, ISKUR, Ministry of Labor and Social Security, State Planning Organization (Ministry of Development), International Labor Organization (ILO), Ministry of EU Turkish National Agency. 1.3 Methodology Focus Group Meetings; Focus group meetings have been moderated by a moderator who asked various thematic questions (Appendix 1) and received answers from the participants. Focus group meetings have been carried out in isolated space attended only by participants and the moderator. There have been five focus group meetings. Cumulative duration of focus group meetings were 264.44 minutes. Meetings were conducted with 15 female and 15 male students between the ages of 15 and 19.

Branch Welding Accounting Foreign Trade Drafting Machinery Design Child Development Chemistry Computer Programming Construction Computers Climatization Machinery Production High School - High School for Girls High School Coed High School

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1 1

2 2 4 3 2 3 2 1 2 2 1 2

2- Institutional meetings Authorized staff in youth employment related units were interviewed during pre-determined appointments. All questions have been prepared and shared in advance with the institutions. The questions can be found in the appendix.
Institution General Directorate of Technical Education for Boys General Directorate of Commerce and Tourism Education General Directorate of Apprenticeship and Mass Education General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls KOSGEB Authorized interviewee Ycel Yksel Head of Bureau ahap Ylmaz Head of Bureau evket Alp Division Manager Hakk Kapusuz - Head of Bureau Mehmet merbeyolu- Head of Bureau Abdlkadir Yanc Division Manager, Workforce Training Esra Sermin Ata- Labor Specialist Gkhan Gder Acting Head, Employment and Business Life Bureau Ozan akmak- UN Youth Employment Joint Program, Program Assistant Musa Ceylan - LLP General Coordinator

ISKUR Ministry of Labor and Social Security

State Planning Organization (Ministry of Development)

International Labor Organization (ILO) Ministry of EU Turkish National Agency.*

TNA has a program named Leonardo da Vinci** in the field of Youth Employment. This has not been included in the report content because young people cannot apply as private persons and only the applications of organizations are accepted. **Leonardo da Vinci program includes mobility actions that enable people to travel abroad to have a learning or training experience benefited by People in Initial Vocational Training (IVT), People in the Labor Market (PLM) including the unemployed and Professionals in Vocational and Educational Training (VETPRO). The key element here is to boost the European dimension of initial vocational education and continued vocational training, to encourage people to gain new skills, knowledge and qualifications through activities that involve theory and practice and especially to gain experience from job-related trainings, to improve their language skills, international connections and the exchange of best practices for trainers and human resources executives. Such a field of operation is beneficial in terms of enabling cooperation among all the social partners in the field of vocational training and thereby strengthening both the international collaborations and also the relationship between the labor market and the training organizations. Applications to this program can only be made at organizational level.

Some of the youth employment projects and services by these institutions are listed below. Detailed information on the service and projects by these institutions can be found on their web pages as listed in Appendix 1.

Institution

Service Under MEGEP framework Specialized Career Development Centers (UMEM) Beceri10 Project executive committee On-the-job trainings under UMEM with the collaboration of Ministry of National Education and Ministry of Industry workforce market.

General Directorate of Technical Education for Boys

Dual Vocational Education Centers for Vocational and Technical Education certificate programs TUREM- Basic Education Course for Personnel for Tourism Companies

General Directorate of Commerce and Tourism Education

TURES Apprenticeship, experienced mastership trainings apprenticeship and

Vocational training, development and adaptation courses

General Directorate of Apprenticeship and Widespread Vocational Education Education

MEGEP Technical Education Finishing Schools for Girls Secondary Education Project Here we are too Competition.
General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls

SKILLS Turkey Skill Competitions. Entrepreneurship Training

KOSGEB

SME and grant funds On-the-job training programs Vocational Training UMEM Entrepreneurship Training

KUR

Job placement services

Jobs for everyone: National Youth Employment Program and Antalya Pilot Implementation UMEM MEGEP
Ministry of Labor and Social Security

TUREM Jobs for everyone: National Youth Employment Program and Antalya Pilot Implementation

State Planning Organization (Ministry of Development)

SODES Jobs for everyone: National Youth Employment Program and Antalya Pilot Implementation Leonardo da Vinci Program

International Labor Organization (ILO)

Ministry of EU Turkish National Agency

2.1 Institutional Interviews- Evaluation notes for institutional interviews 10 institutions were visited within the framework of Youth Employment. Problems, recommendations for solutions, different practices and fields of work have been identified during the interviews by authorized officials. This report emphasizes the efforts by these institutions in the field and addresses obstacles for employment processes for the youth with public, private, NGO actors.

2.2 Youth Perception A perspective for the needs and expectations of the youth The youth has not been designated by the state as a distinct target group for employment issue except the reference in formal education; nonetheless young people appear to be the majority among the beneficiaries for the services provided. Youth category is not defined explicitly for the services concerning employment
Demands of the young people: 1/3 of 80,000 benefit from hairdressing, automotive and electronics departments. They need and expect to start up their own businesses in a short time and hence select these focus areas. YGM

Young people benefit from formal vocational mass education services such as vocational/skill development and guidance programs which can provide job opportunities. KTGM

The institutions did not answer 4th, 5th and 7th questions.3 This is mainly due to the lack of mechanisms to obtain the evaluations for tendencies, fields of interests, problems and needs of young people, and their feedback on the services. Some institutions have recently introduced some tools such as electronic surveys and on-line guidance tools on their updated web sites. However, methods involving dedicated specialist groups providing direct contact with young people are yet to be put into service.

Young people prefer to be trained and to receive services on culinary services because culinary staff such as chefs- are well paid. Technical schools may have sufficient equipment and instructors, even students, but young people no longer prefer these as they are less likely to find jobs after graduating from these schools. This is basically due to the incompatibility between workforce market and vocational education curricula. We routinely contact the private enterprises, encourage our instructors to contact private bodies in the sector and provide our on-the-job trainings in private companies in order to catch-up with the market. Young people need to have the education that will support them to find jobs when they graduate. TTGM

While the students expect to learn by practice, the schools cannot keep the students engaged and interested. Within a very intense 45-hour weekly curriculum, due to timing problems, guidance cannot be provided as it should be. KTOGM

Nationwide, especially in vocational and technical secondary education, female students areas of preference: Child Development and Education (86,000), Clothing Production Technologies (27,137), Food and Beverage Services (25,896), Information Technologies (31,963), Graphic Design and Photography (14,855), Beauty and Hair Design (10,801). KTOGM

2.3 Effects of social gender perception on the employment of the youth There is a serious problem for girls in moving on from primary into secondary education. The prime reason for the discontinuity is the debate on whether it is necessary for a girl to have secondary education; some parents are also reluctant to send their daughters to coeducational schools. Some parents, especially fathers tend to encourage their daughters to

4- Which of your services are used most by young people? Do you receive feedback on this? 5- What are your channels of feedback? 7-What are the most prevalent vocational preferences of youth? What are their most important needs? Entire set of questions given in Appendix 1.2

prefer branches related to housework (Child Development and Education, Clothing, Food etc.) or desk jobs. Students can be channeled to branches by their instructors according to their genders. Female students in technical branches channeled generally towards machine design, architecture and computer programming. Female students are generally placed in unqualified office tasks regardless of their qualifications during their internships and hence are not able to benefit from internship programs sufficiently. They are generally recruited according to gender preferences of the corresponding sector and not according to their professional skills and qualifications.
The approach toward women and girls in the social structure and traditional life style leave them at a disadvantage in terms of universal values. Female literacy, schooling and employment figures indicate an urgent need for intensive programs in this area. Macro-economic policies which are aimed at increasing employment should be supported with tools specifically designed to remove obstacles for womens employment. Investments, as a prerequisite of increasing production, make up the basis for employment and sustainable development. Public sector should implement policies that encourage investments at various levels and special investment schemes designed to create decent jobs which take into account gender disparity. Investments for care services should be positioned as the core component of national investment policy. KTOGM

2.4 Institutional collaborations- Problems in data gathering and analysis Institutions are not able to keep consistent, methodological and detailed records of their services and information relevant to beneficiaries and all their stakeholders. Therefore service providing institutions are not able to share information and experience on their functions with other relevant bodies on a steady basis. The fact that there are many services and activities in the youth employment field that lack updated statistical information that include young people, results in simultaneous or duplicate activities utilizing separate budgets and human resources by different institutions Structural revisions in services provided by the institutions especially on workforce market need analyses remain one-sided and independent of the demands of young people because the culture of working with young people in person to collect data and to carry out need analyses has not yet been completely established in public institutions. 2.5 Supply and demand discrepancy in workforce market - The reflection of the internship and vocational education structure on the discrepancy Workforce supply and demand discrepancy remains to be an incurable problem for all institutions that provide services in the youth employment field. Workforce need analyses are conducted under programs such as UN joint program Jobs for Everyone: National Youth Employment Program and Antalya Pilot Implementation and UMEM, by organizations like TEPAV and TOBB-ET. These reflect regional needs. Need analyses are important in that they indicate employment rates, job and vocational education demands. The companies are
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interviewed one to one during these studies by a survey consisting of 28 questions and an Intention Form for intern demands. The surveys are done in cooperation with provincial trade and industrial chambers and Turkish Sector Councils. Specific needs for provinces are determined by Workforce Market Need Analyses and courses are set-up in the light of their outcomes.
Workforce market and investors complain about lack of suitable workforce to match their needs. When we work in coordination with them and supply their workforce demand with compatible graduates, they find the technology outdated. Our students cannot become competent as our technical equipment is insufficient, classes are crowded and curriculum is too hard. The employers do not employ or give responsibility to our graduates as they do not trust their competency. There are adaptation programs in EU countries for new graduates even for engineers-, our employers expect completely competent and experienced employees coming out from school. ETGM

The discrepancy remains even after the curricula and technical equipment are revised in accordance with the needs and demand of workforce market. The expectations of workforce market from young people narrow the area for the educational institutions: the employers expect young employees to know how to operate brand new, high-tech machinery; to be competent in more than one specialty; to be already familiar with the sector and the company in order to save time and resources.
For the purposes of strengthening the link between vocational education and employment, contributing to the development of vocational and technical education, and increasing awareness on these issues, General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls continues to implement activities for program development, the dissemination of vocational and technical education and to support employability of new graduates in collaboration with other parties such as ministries, NGOs and private enterprises. KTOGM

The intense program given by educational institutions needs to be supported and complemented by internship programs in private enterprises; however the internship periods are generally inefficient and disappointing for young people. As indicated before, the employers expect interns to be competent in operating new high-tech machinery. If they do not have the competency, they are kept away from these equipment and never find the opportunity to learn. They are also expected to be competent in more than one specialty and employers do not spare necessary resources for the interns adaptation to this new environment. As a result, their internship periods often are inefficient and disappointing.

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We visit the schools. 99 % of the students want to go to university; no one says I will start working when I graduate from technical high school. Parents think the same way; they expect their children to become lawyers, doctors and teachers. No one wants their children to become apprentices, shoemakers or workers, but vocational high schools are there for this reason. We give vocational education to our students on top of standard 30-hour curriculum. Since 1970, vocational high school graduates have been allowed to continue to university and we had to teach a little bit of everything since then, they are not educated as they should be for vocational purposes. There is a misconception about vocational and technical high school classes being easy. Industrial Vocational High Schools give a bit easier curriculum which focuses more on the vocational education. As such, a student is expelled from the school if he or she is unsuccessful for two consecutive years. ETGM

We give students intense on-the-job trainings, 100% of our students are employed after these trainings and they stay in companies where they complete their internship. TTGM We give theoretical and broad-based education in order to overcome enterprise-employee incompatibility. We give the basics for the job in this training. There is a great diversity among potential employees, so they all need to go through adaptation trainings. The students who had apprenticeship education may not be successful unless they are employed in the areas in which they specialize. YGM

One of the most important factors in workforce supply-demand discrepancy is the wage policy. There is a discrepancy between the expectations of the graduates from vocational schools for the work they produce and the remuneration deemed appropriate by the employers for the same work. Responsibility and liability of workforce market is on individuals and institutions. The market should actively take initiative and responsibility to produce sound solutions for the wage regimes.

Uncertified workforce in the market: The method applied in European countries for vocational education is that certification is provided by accredited institutions. The number of attendants is low in this system; however the quality of the education is much higher. TTGM

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3. Evaluation of institutional interviews in accordance with focus group meetings with the youth Evaluation of their future plans and transition from secondary education into business life is made by a vocational education perspective during focus group meetings with the youth. Their branch and school selection, plans for higher education and other preferences and expectations have been analyzed from the young peoples point of view. 3.1 School and Branch Selection Young people prefer vocational high schools because of their insufficient success in primary school and their concerns for their potential success in the secondary education. Administrators in secondary education approve this phenomenon, however they do not think the curricula in vocational and technical high schools are easier like the students and their parents think. The aim of both the students and their parents is to make the students continue to higher education after secondary school. Nevertheless the students are encouraged to go to vocational and technical high schools by their parents who consider the economic conditions and unemployment rate in Turkey. This is a realistic decision taken by the parents, giving the students a chance to find jobs even after the secondary education. As stated before, there is an important effect of parents especially fathers- on the branch and school preferences of the young people especially girls-. Teachers also channel young people according to their gender. Feedback from 15-19-year old students in vocational education on their branch and school preferences:

It is our own folly, we think if we continue to regular high schools we would be unsuccessful as we did in secondary school, and prefer to go to vocational high school to at least learn a profession. I preferred my school as there was said to be a hairdressing branch which turned out to be nonexistent so I have become a machine designer. Istanbul Machine Designer F-

There was OKS then. I wanted to study health. Consequently I ended up here as my score was not enough for health. Istanbul- Child Development- F-

Exam and preference success. I scored 310 in OKS while lowest Anatolian High School started at 355. At that instant you are bewildered; it was over because I only had 310 points. I even threw away my pencils, there were no pencils at home, and I thought it was over for me. Then you have to make 13

choices, you are completely unfocused and disoriented. For instance I chose anesthetics and radiology even though I hate hospitals. Fortunately I could not make it. I played computer games and made my preferences then, because your psychology is all over the place during that time. Istanbul Foreign Trade M-

The answers to question Do you want to continue higher education in your branch?:

You have to continue in your branch even though you do not want to. University entrance exams are not fair anymore, it has become an industry. The ones who cannot afford private preparatory courses have no chance at all; you have to take these courses if you want to go to the university. Istanbul drafting F-

You have to go to private preparatory courses because they do not teach you enough at the school. This can be compensated in the private course. Istanbul- Accounting M -

Why do they not give sufficient education at school? Istanbul Foreign Trade M-

Because owners of those private preparatory courses are close to the government IstanbulAccounting M -

As can be seen, institutions have no effect on young people during branch and school selection. The selection is made by students under the great influence of their parents. There is no comprehensive explanation and guidance; thus the students, especially those unsuccessful in primary school, continue with limited information and skills during their higher education years. It can only be expected that these students will have very limited chance of finding jobs. The state, in turn will have to invest again in these people to make them employable, resulting in inefficient use of taxpayers money. 3.2 Examination System Young people suffer from the examination system and standard schooling which do not support equal opportunities among youth. They believe the increase in the number of private universities and the deterioration of the education quality of the state universities is unfair and only the ones with the money can get good education.
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They think the scandals following the examinations (recent encryption scandal, etc.) result in serious mistrust in the system and there are students who have given up their education for this reason. They also complain about groups close to the government and their schools that intervene with the examination system. They believe the private preparatory courses are taken over by certain political influence groups and it is themselves who suffer from all this. They see the examination system as an obstacle between themselves and their future. They believe that even if they make it into university, they will have to study for professions they do not want at the first place and then they will even be unable to find jobs after graduation. They say they lose their motivation and feel helpless and insecure every time the system changes.

The examination system itself is a grievance. Istanbul Standard High School M-

There is unfairness in everything, let alone the examination system. For instance we live in Istanbul, where the government makes all kind of investments. But people living in, lets say Van or Diyarbakr do not get the same attention. It is ok, I am good here but this is a great injustice for people living there. They may even not have proper teachers. These people are left ignorant and we see what these ignorant people do later. Then the state holds these people responsible for the bad things they do. They the government - do not help them and later blame them for their actions. Most of the time I find those people there to be right. Istanbul Standard High School F-,2

The opinions of the young people are generally subjective. The fairness of the examination system is another subject. Nonetheless young people blame the examination system for all the problems they face. At this point it is interesting to hear that public institutions are not happy with the examination system, either; they propose that SBS examinations should be decreased in number or abolished altogether. The opportunities that can rehabilitate the system are not discussed with the youth anyway. 3.3 Internship Secondary education institutes do not take active part in supporting the young peoples learning process or in protecting their rights against the employers. The intention of the workforce market towards interns is usually to use their workforce in unqualified, low profile jobs rather than developing their practical skills by giving them responsibility and tasks relevant to their education. Neither the educational institutions nor the Ministry of Labor and Social Security have any legal power concerning interns over employers. On the other hand, the ministry has no definite policy about the vocational education students in internship.
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Despite all these difficulties, interns may prefer to stay in the companies in which they complete their internships. Concerns over unemployment, future, imposing themselves into a new company and the quality of their current employers play role in this decision.
Do you know your legal rights during your internship? We all do, but we feel suppressed. -Does your school inform you about your legal rights prior to internship? No, not at all. - There is a contract indicating all those at the beginning of our internship. For example we have to work 8 hours a day. They told me to come at 8 and leave at 6. I do 8.30-5. They have signed the contract, no one can ask me to stay longer. -I have a lot of friends who did not read that contract. Istanbul Cross talk in the focus group

I have friends who learned nothing at the school but learned everything as interns. For example I am an intern here, in technical service. They think this is a mans job and I am female so they do not give me any work. I have not been able to learn anything because of this. Istanbul Machine Design- F-

It appears that relevant legislation is not implemented enough in reality. The problem appears to be in control and implementation, not in the legislation itself. 3.4 Methods for job search and recruitment The students in standard high schools do not make plans for business life as they plan to continue their education at university. The priority of vocational high school students is to go to university. If they do not succeed in that, their second best option is to look for a position in companies where they have worked as interns and have close relations. Young people either do not know about ISKUR or are not aware of its services. They say that they know employment channels such as agencies, web sites of HR companies and newspaper ads, but they do not prefer these for searching for jobs as they do not find themselves qualified enough to use these. Instead they seek simpler jobs such as sales, office jobs and clerks in their close proximity. They say that they can find a position in which they can use their specialties, if they are lucky enough.
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As the students in standard high schools have no plans for looking for a job after graduation, and focus all their attention on the examination system, they have different priorities than students in vocational and technical high schools. It is very important for organizations producing employment based services to develop and use a youth-friendly language. However these organizations are not successful in reaching young people. It is understandable that young people focus on only one objective and do not take into account their educational and employment decisions simultaneously. Relevant governmental bodies are unfortunately not quite successful in providing young people with a comprehensive menu including all options and opportunities. 3.5 Effects of not looking at the employment problem as a "young individual" During the interviews with institutions, it was observed that their employment programs are actually not designed in the context of expectations and needs of young people. Although these services are not designed specifically for young people, it is mostly young people who benefit from these. Therefore young people conclude that their needs and expectations are not taken so seriously. Young people are under pressure from their parents to make quick decision between going to a university and finding a job. They even stress themselves to meet the demands of parents. They emphasize that living under limitations imposed upon them and anxiety are their biggest problems. They do not want to be wedged between finding a job and going to university, they want to live their lives as their peers do and not to have concerns about earning a living. Young people emphasize that unemployment is a great and important problem. They believe government has a role in unemployment becoming so widespread and they think the examination system, inefficient formal education in schools, channeling students to private preparatory courses and incompetency of youth are deliberately imposed on them by the state.

We are young; we need to see around and make the most of the life in our early years and we should not have concerns about future. But now we have to think about our future first. Even though we are careless and comfortable, our parents and the society suppress us. Istanbul Foreign Trade- M-

I ask myself where our youth is heading Istanbul- Child Development- F-

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There is no youth left after the change in age of maturity. The legal age for alcohol is 24, but we can buy arms at 18. This is ridiculous. Istanbul Foreign Trade- M-

I ask myself where our youth is heading. They are very relaxed, too relaxed. The government is our primary problem, but I cannot understand young people behaving so relaxed. Samsun Chemistry-M-

Shouldnt we be relaxed and explore the life at this age? Now we have concerns for our future, but I think we should not be having these thoughts about our future. Istanbul- Accounting- M-

4. Recommendations by young people Internship periods should be changed. All students should be interns during the summer season like Tourism High Schools and continue their education uninterrupted during the semesters to be successful for university. Vocational competency examinations for university education instead of a centralized standard exam. General exams for those who want to change their departments. Altogether abolition of the exam system Providing information in schools on working conditions, advantages and disadvantages of relevant departments. Abolition of single gender schools.

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5. Conclusion According to 2008 figures, of the young people aged between 15-24, 30% is working, 30% is studying and 40% is neither working nor studying.4 These figures have changed against youth after global crisis, as the last employed were the first to be laid off. It can be assumed that youth unemployment figure is twice bigger than the general unemployment rate as in most European countries.5 This weak relationship can be summarized as below: Young people get vocational education in order to go into higher education. As their vocational curricula are difficult and general classes are not sufficient for entrance to university, their expectations from the future are negatively affected. Since they do not receive any support from their schools about the job specifications, internship and postgraduation opportunities, they feel disadvantaged among other young students with whom they will have to compete for university education. One of the reasons for the young people to prefer vocational high schools is that they believe curriculum in vocational high schools is easier. Secondary schools cannot eliminate this misperception and are not able to guide students who really want to have vocational education in these schools. Workforce market and institutions that prepare young people for business life are not able to produce and implement youth-focused employment programs and schemes that prioritize needs and demands of young people. Young people feel they are in an unsecure and unguaranteed work environment because of incompatibilities between educational institutions and service providers and insufficient accreditation. There are various obstacles -such as lack of information channels and inefficiency of guidance services- between young people and services provided by public institutions during their transition to business life. Young people have to be registered to KUR in order to benefit from training programs outside formal education and employment services. They have to go to KUR offices or log-on to KUR web site to be registered. Sometimes young people cannot reach any of these channels and they are not aware of the importance and necessity of being registered to KUR. As vocational schools are obliged to give education to prepare the students for their profession and higher education simultaneously according to National Education Law no 1739, 45-hour curriculum of these schools include both vocational and general
4 5

Human Development Report for Turkey: Youth in Turkey, UNDP, 2008. Youth Unemployment in Turkey, N. Yentrk ve C. Balevent, Istanbul Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit Activity Report, 2007.

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classes. This intense and tight curriculum has negative effects on the students performance. The problems in the duration of education contribute to supply and demand discrepancy in workforce market. Workforce market, on the other hand is reluctant to provide support for youth employment. These two factors together make the problem unsolvable. The weak relationship between education and employment is analyzed at length above and in various other studies. The solutions to this problem are generally based on improving the education quality. We will propose an alternative solution underlining the importance and urgency of this approach. Our proposal is centered on the design of new information flow systems and development of existing ones for young people to access information about the services intended for them. One of the basic tools for this approach can be local governments and Youth Centers of General Directorate of Youth and Sports6. More than 150 existing centers can provide young people with guidance and information in coordination with mass education institutions and other public bodies. In addition to alternative course venues, these centers can serve as hubs for the dissemination of the youth friendly information. We believe these centers should never give certificate courses for employment. Furthermore, these centers can also deal with problems of young people during their internships and provide guidance on their legal rights. This survey also indicates that public services concerning employment are not designed for young people. The problem of youth unemployment has already been diagnosed; however there is a misconception that efforts to eradicate general unemployment will also benefit young people. Actually, as the daily practices of young people are different, they need a different approach concerning their employment as well. For instance, Facebook with have 740 million users worldwide has 29 million users in Turkey. 53% of these are between the ages of 13 and 24. It means that 82% of all users in Turkey are within this age group.7 However we found no information on internet and Facebook based use during our interviews with relevant public bodies. The wise use of internet and social network services would provide a valuable channel for public bodies in reaching at least young internet users. The overall information channels however should be designed to reach youth in mid-low neighborhoods in big cities and small cities and towns where internet access is not widespread. Otherwise strategies only make young people who are unable to use internet more disadvantaged. Another useful tool may be local media. Especially small broadcasters in the need of news resources would welcome relevant information into their news services. Existing guidance services can be used for young people in mass education system. Impairments in existing guidance system can hinder these efforts. Yet supportive measures such as handouts and posters can be produced to overcome the problems in the functioning

Ministry of Youth and Sports has replaced General Directorate of Youth and Sports in the course of this survey. We cannot propose a more detailed structure as the function and structure of this Ministry has not yet been established. 7 http://www.webrazzi.com/2011/06/03/facebook-turkiye-infografigi/

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of these guidance systems and disseminate information on employment and internship issues. We also observed that existing institutions if they are not in a project based partnership- do not have sufficient information on the services they provide. This is another negative factor affecting both quality and penetration of their services. Strategic partnerships established among these institutions would greatly contribute to the creation of an integrated youth policy and support integration of youth employment policies with other youth related policies in Turkey. We recommend creation of a Youth Employment Council and a Youth Policies Council, both consisting of public and nongovernmental youth-related organizations. One of the major responsibilities of the newly founded Ministry of Youth and Sports should be the coordination of these efforts. Since the services provided by public institutions are not database supported, the youth target of these services and the services themselves cannot become compatible As can be seen above, the betterments in favor the youth are not limited solely to the changes in education and employment policies. Effective and target-oriented use of existing resources would greatly improve existing situation. It can now be possible to gather and coordinate all these efforts under one youth policies umbrella within the new ministry. All these efforts should be carried out with the contribution and active participation of academic and NGO stakeholders in order to create a healthy relationship between public and other bodies. This will result in more effective implementation of existing policies

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 INSTITUTIONAL INTERVIEWS

1.1 Web pages of the institutions and their programs/projects

General Directorate of Technical Education for Boys http://etogm.meb.gov.tr/ General Directorate of Commerce and Tourism Education - http://ttogm.meb.gov.tr/ General Directorate of Apprenticeship and Widespread Education - http://cygm.meb.gov.tr/ General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls -http://ktogm.meb.gov.tr/
KOSGEB- http://www.kosgeb.gov.tr KUR-http://www.iskur.gov.tr/

Ministry of Labor and Social Security- http://www.csgb.gov.tr State Planning Organization (Ministry of Development - http://www.dpt.gov.tr International Labor Organization (ILO)- http://www.ilo.org
(http://www.ilo.org/public/turkish/region/eurpro/ankara/)

Ministry of EU Turkish National Agency - http://www.ua.gov.tr/

Web sites of programs and projects

http://megep.meb.gov.tr http://www.beceri10.org.tr/ http://www.skillsturkey.org/ http://www.istebizdevariz.com/ http://oop.meb.gov.tr http://www.mdgf-tr.org/ http://www.sodes.gov.tr

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1.2 Questions

1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? 2- How do you announce these? 3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? 4- Which of your services are used by young people the most? Do you get feedback? 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? 6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? 7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? 8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these?

1.3 Interviews with authorities from institutions i- General Directorate of Technical Education for Boys 1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? All education programs have been updated and reorganized under MEGEP(*). A study for determining occupational areas was carried out with TESK and TOBB in order to close the gap between vocational school output and market demand. During 2009, in accordance with the request of Ministry of Labor and Social Security, we worked with Ministry of National Education and Ministry of Industry and Commerce in order to discuss the measures to overcome the supply and demand discrepancy between technical education and workforce demand. TOBB also contributed to this study Beceri10 Project of Specialized Career Planning Centers (UMEM) is a campaign for training and employment. Turkish Union of Chambers and Stock Markets (TOBB), Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Ministry of National Education and TOBB University of Economics and Technology (TOBB-ET) have signed a protocol in order to implement the pilot project in 19 provinces, namely Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakr, Erzurum, Gaziantep,
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Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mersin, Samsun, Tekirda, and Trabzon. The executive board of the project consists of Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Labor and Social Security, General Manager of KUR, Director of General Directorate of Technical Education for Boys, General Secretary of TOBB and TOBB-ET President. Workforce need analyses will be carried out, then technical and equipment needs of 111 school in 81 cities will be met and instructors will be trained according to their needs. The pilot activities currently continue in 19 cities. According to these analyses, courses will be given in accordance with the needs of the companies. The participants of these courses will be selected from the unemployed in ISKUR database. On-the-job trainings for teachers were opened under UMEM. 2,000 teachers attended these courses and 4,000 more will be trained TOBB University of Economy and Technology (TOBB-ET) has taken part in workforce market need analyses in 19 cities. Textiles turned out to be the leading area according to these analyzes.
* MEGEP- Turkey has developed various project ideas in order to close the gap between workforce needs of its th economy and the output from vocational and technical schools. As a first step towards this goal, on July 4 2000, Improvement of Vocational Education and Training System in Turkey Project (MEGEP) has been ratified (DG1A-D/MEDTQ/04-98) between The Republic of Turkey and EU. Technical aid team of the project has started th working on September 30 , 2002. The project duration is 5 years, of which the first 6 months is the launch and the remaining four and a half years is the implementation. http://megep.meb.gov.tr/indextr.html

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The people registered to KUR have been channeled to schools that have been equipped well in the field of textiles. Project participants receive 15 TL/day during their participation in the course and internships. The course attendants have also been insured for work accidents and occupational hazards and covered under General Health Insurance by KUR. The General Directorate has launched dual vocational high school education program. If a student in vocational high school becomes unsuccessful to the point s/he would be expelled, we take her/him into dual vocational education. According to a protocol we make with an employer, the student goes to school two days a week and s/he goes to work on the remaining 3 days. There is no passing or failing in this system, instead the student takes a midterm exam after 1.5 years. At the end of 3 years, the student is interviewed by a group consisting of teachers and representatives of the employer. If s/he succeeds, s/he receives an experienced apprentice certificate. This system is active in 74 schools. 2- How do you announce these? The project has a web site where detailed information and application forms can be found. There is also an information kit and a booklet for the project. http://www.umem.org.tr/ We have guidance and orientation lectures in 9th grade. Teachers give information about branches and occupations. The schools make their announcements at the local level. They place ads in local newspapers and mukhtars make announcements together with imams in meetings with wide public attendance. Schools have their implementation modules printed and distributed at the local level with the support of parents and local donations. The efficacy of these efforts should also be monitored. Some school-based organizations may have been hindering mobility of the workforce. The surrounding area may not be offering enough job opportunities for the schools educational focuses or the area with suitable opportunities may be outside the influence area of the school.

3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? We did not perform any monitoring programs. Our only quantitative data consist of the students registered in the school. 4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? 5- Through which channels do you get feedback?

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6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? Turkish Union of Chambers and Stock Markets (TOBB), Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Ministry of National Education and TOBB University of Economics and Technology (TOBBET) have signed a protocol for UMEM. OSEP School Industry Education Program is an employment guaranteed vocational training project carried out in collaboration by Ministry of National Education and Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO). According to a protocol signed between Ministry of National Education, ASO and OSTIM Organized Industrial Zone administration, machinery, electrotechnics, welding and CNC trainings were given in OSTM to new graduates during 20072008.

7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? Students in Vocational High Schools do not specialize in single area. Occupational specialization trainings are given by Specialized Occupational Training Center. Vocational high school graduates can attend these courses. For instance a technical high school graduate who is not competent enough in welding can attend these courses. In this program the students can be exempted from their classes at school and the education time shortened by half. This support provides vocational high school graduates with a significant advantage.

8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? The workforce market and investors always complain that they are not able to find qualified workforce they need. When we collaborate and provide workforce in accordance with their needs, they find the technology outdated. Our students cannot become competent as our technical equipment is insufficient, classes are crowded and curriculum is too hard. The employers do not employ or give responsibility to our graduates as they do not trust their competency. There are adaptation programs in EU countries for new graduates even for engineers-, our employers expect completely competent and experienced employees coming out from school. There is no flexibility within the education and vocational system in Turkey; changing occupations is extremely difficult, if possible at all. The legislation is complex and rigid. Vocational education and transition to business life are coordinated under the same ministries in most of the countries. In Japan one ministry is responsible for all these components.
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There is no investment to strengthen vocational education and support transition to business life in Turkey. We feel the absence of this. Note: We visit the schools. 99 % of the students want to go to university; no one says I will start working when I graduate from technical high school. Parents think the same way; they expect their children to become lawyers, doctors and teachers. No one wants their children to become apprentices, shoemakers or workers, but vocational high schools are there for this reason. We give vocational education to our students on top of standard 30-hour curriculum. Since 1970, vocational high school graduates have been allowed to continue to university and we had to teach a little bit of everything since then, they are not educated as they should be for vocational purposes. There is a misconception about vocational and technical high school lectures being easy. Industrial Vocational High Schools give a bit easier curriculum which focuses more on the vocational education. If a student is unsuccessful for two consecutive years s/he is expelled from the school there.

ii- General Directorate of Commerce and Tourism Education 1. (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? We give applied education focused on trade and tourism in our schools. Besides, our schools are institutes which provide mass and formal education as diploma and certificate programs. Preparatory programs on professions and higher education are given in our schools at secondary education level. TUREM (Tourism Education Centers): These centers provide the same programs with vocational and technical focuses given in mass and formal secondary education institutions. In order to supply qualified workforce such as chefs, bakers, bartenders, service and front office etc. staff- needed in tourism sector, these centers give Courses for Personnel Training for Tourism Enterprises. We provide intense on-the-job trainings to students, 100 % of which are unemployed upon graduation. They stay in the enterprises in which they worked as interns. 2. How do you announce these? Our web site is thoroughly detailed and includes all the relevant information. Comprehensive information on our services can be found on the site. Schools make their own announcements.

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3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? Within E-graduate tracking program, we have a system through which all information flow about all parties such as schools, employers, graduates, students and teachers can be done on-line. Our students complete on-line surveys for the services they receive 4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? We receive many e-mails both from students and their parents. There are coordinator schools throughout Turkey. They hold meetings for the assessment of needs, developments, and status of the students. Our information network is pretty strong. We also hold meetings with principals of Tourism High Schools and TUREM managers and conduct surveys for feedback. We have done a survey about the coverage, content and illustrations of vocational English education books. There are forms on education programs in order for teachers to provide feedback on these. We value all mail and email from our students. 6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? We have intensive collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Tourism. We implement UMEM Project with KUR. We collaborate with TRSAB in order to meet qualified workforce demand of the sector. We have protocols with large shopping malls so that our students will be able to work there. 7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? Young people prefer culinary services and education as a good culinary worker is paid very well. There may be equipment, students, IT and technology departments in our schools, but vocational high school students no longer prefer these schools as they are not able to find jobs due to the discrepancy between workforce market demand and vocational education given in these schools. We organize meetings and interviews with the entrepreneurs and provide on-the-job trainings for teachers in enterprises. This improves education quality. Young people need education in the fields in which they can find jobs.

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8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? The gravest problem is uncertified workforce in the market: The certification is done in accredited institutions in the EU. The number of attendants is low in this system; however the quality of the education is much higher.

iii- General Directorate of Apprenticeship and Widespread Education 1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? There are 324 Apprenticeship and Vocational Mass Education Centers and 969 Community Education Centers throughout Turkey. There are 5,000 experienced apprentice teachers and 7,000 master instructors in Vocational Education Centers, and 180,000 apprentices attend lectures. This means 5 million people benefit annually from these centers where 1,345 different training programs on 153 occupational fields are given. Anyone over 15 can attend the trainings in Apprenticeship and Vocational Mass Education Centers. The trainings in Community Education Centers are open to everyone. Apprentices go to school once and work 5 days a week. Apprenticeship trainees who left mass education and started to work receive 8-10 hours of training with a contract. They have 4 hours of general knowledge and 6 hours of vocational classes in two semesters in a year. Apprentice training lasts 2 to 3 years. Apprentices become experienced apprentices when they pass the exam, they may take a 240-hour course and become masters upon successful completion of this period. Then they set up their own businesses. They have to attend another 40-hour training if they want to become master trainers. The employer has to pay a minimum wage of 30% of the legal minimum wage to an apprentice. Premiums for occupational hazards and health insurance are paid by the state. The general health insurance premiums are also paid by the state according to new law. There are also Vocational Education-Development and Adaptation Courses for those who attended and/or completed a mass and formal education program. These courses aim to improve information given in these programs and to increase productivity in the workspace, to adapt to newer technologies and to develop occupational skills. They are primarily given in laboratories and workshops. The enterprises that have a training unit within their structure in accordance with the laws can also give these courses. Vocational Trainings are for those who left mass education system and do not have the qualifications needed to find a job. These courses are aimed at preparing these people for
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tasks in business life, and for those who want to change occupations and/or to make advancements in their specialties, to develop their qualifications and skills. The courses are started by taking the opinions from relevant institutions. Insurance premiums are covered under a budget created under the ministry according to relevant laws.

2- How do you announce these? Almost all schools are located in organized industrial zones and they make their announcements on their own devices. Minors can benefit from the services by a three sided contract signed by employer, school and parents. The parents of the apprentices are generally indifferent to their childrens education. 3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? Teachers prepare weekly reports by visiting the apprentices in the enterprises. There is one master trainer for every 16 apprentices. Information about educational history is recorded while registering to equivalence evaluation centers. We used an inefficient automated system but abolished it to start using a new system prepared by the ministry. 4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? Young people prefer apprenticeship trainings more. 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? evket Alp made a survey for his MS Thesis on apprenticeship education. The outputs show that the students are satisfied and happy about their education. The survey has been applied to 300 people. We occasionally conduct surveys in our centers but not regularly. The ministry has an Education Research and Development Section (http://earged.meb.gov.tr/) which carries out surveys and research. We request special surveys and they implement them for us. They will evaluate our modular program in the coming days. 6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? We collaborate with Turkish Confederation of Artisans and Craftsmen, chamber and other public and private bodies.

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The contents of our programs were developed by the credit funds provided EU. Some corporations can demand custom made programs. 7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? 1/3 of 80,000 young people are in hairdressing, automotive and electronics as they need to and can launch businesses in a short time in these occupations. 8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? We do not have sufficient number of instructors and are short of competent human resources. Attendants of apprenticeship education find 10-hour/day lecture time too much and they are right. Enterprise and employee incompatibility. We give technical information on a broader context which consists of the basics of the occupations. Graduates have to take adaptation trainings as there is an enormous array of diverse jobs in the market. Then they can serve to satisfy the employee. Those who complete apprenticeship education should work in their fields in the enterprises; otherwise they fail to develop their skills in their fields. Do you provide advisory-guidance support for apprenticeship education? We have been requesting this service, however apart from a few instructors we do not have it. Do you provide information on social and employee rights? The information on rights is given in enterprise knowledge and management classes in apprenticeship education. Mastership lectures contain information about these as well.

iv- General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls 1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? In order to adapt vocational and technical education programs to internationally accepted International Classification of Education Programs (ISCED-97), MEGEP Project has been launched. With MEGEP, pilot implementation has been initiated in 17 areas, 42 fields and 194 branches developed, and these programs have been updated and 42 field and 197 branch programs started to be implemented in all vocational and technical secondary
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schools and Technical Education Maturation Institutes according to the decision of National Education and Discipline Council dated 14.09.2007, no 152. Within the framework of Secondary Education Project (reform, development and equipping of general, vocational and technical secondary education), General Directorate has prepared equipment lists and technical specs for 32 schools determined in accordance with Family and Consumer Sciences area and submitted to Project Coordination Management. According to the action plan for strengthening employment and vocational education relationship, lifelong education centers are being built, meetings are held with the participation of relevant units and General Directorate has drafted and submitted a school/institute management model and report. Here we are too Competition With the collaboration of General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls and British Council, Here we are too competition was organized in order to develop entrepreneurial and creative skills of the students in vocational and technical education. The competition launched in April 2011 and received 730 applications nationwide. 320 students attended in 3 regional competitions and 105 students made it to the final in Istanbul. SKILLS Turkey Skill Competitions SKILLS Turkey is a skill competition organization designed to select young talents in vocational and technical education who will represent Turkey in WorldSkills and EuroSkills competitions. Young people are evaluated according to the universal criteria in regional and national competitions. Talent camps are organized during the process of the competition to prepare students for international competitions. EuroSkills represents a platform for public, educational, private and occupational bodies from Europe in order to increase the quality of vocational and technical education and to make these more desirable for young people. The updated information on the project can be found on www.skillsturkey.org 2- How do you announce these? Web site of the general directorate contains the announcements. http://ktogm.meb.gov.tr/

3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? In our educational system which is based on modular education, monitoring and evaluation of the competencies are done within the modules. Talent education exams are offered in enterprises in order for a student to complete his/her vocational education. National competitions are organized with the participation of employees and workforce market to assess the students benefits and to strengthen the weaknesses of the system. We also coordinate participation in international competitions.
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4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? The schemes for occupational development, presented within vocational education, and mass and formal education systems that provide guidance and employment services. Girls and young women who were left outside the mass and formal education system and even standard high school graduates gain diplomas from Open Vocational High School. Especially housewives attend the courses in order to become entrepreneurs and to contribute to their domestic economy with home based production projects. Feedback is also received in educational environments/schools, competitions, and Vocational and Technical Education Fair (METEF). 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? The feedback is received through meeting of students and parents with advisors, teachers and managers at schools, and surveys conducted for managers, teachers, students, parents, employers and employees. Furthermore, seminars and workshops are organized with the participation of the managers of local organizations of our ministry and general directorate to share information and to gather feedback about all our activities. We reassess our educational system under the light of these feedbacks. 6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? In order to strengthen the relationship between vocational education and employment, to contribute to the development of vocational and technical education, to solve the problems in education system and to create awareness, General Directorate of Technical Education for Girls makes efforts towards development of joint programs and projects with other public, private and NGO partners. A protocol of collaboration was signed in 1992 between the Ministry of National Education and KUR to implement guidance services. In 2004, Vocational Information Guidance and Consultancy Services Collaboration Protocol was signed in order to update previous protocol and invite various other parties Up-to-date sides of the protocol are: Ministry of National Education-General Directorate of Special Education, Guidance and Consultancy Services. Ministry of Labor and Social Security- Turkish Job Institute (KUR) The Council of Higher Education (YK) State Planning Organization (Ministry of Development)
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 Turkish Statistical Institute (TK), SME Development and Support Institute (KOSGEB), National Productivity Center(MPM), Turkish Union of Chambers and Stock Markets (TOBB), Turkish Artisans and Craftsmen Confederation (TESK), Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TSK), Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TRK-)

7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? The fields preferred by female students in vocational and technical secondary education are: Child Development and Education (86,000 ), Clothing Production Technology (27,137), food and Drink Services (25,896), IT (31,963), Graphic Design and Photography (14,855), Beauty and Hair Dressing (10,801). 8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? Compared to universal values, women and girls have disadvantaged positions in Turkey due to our traditional lifestyle. Female literacy, schooling and employment figures indicate an urgent need for intensive programs in gender disparity. Macro-economic policies which are aimed at increasing employment should be supported with tools specifically designed to remove obstacles for women employment. Investment policies are prerequisite for increasing the production and hence employment rate and securing a sustainable development. Public sector should implement policies that encourage investment at various levels and special investment schemes designed to create decent jobs which take into account gender disparity. Investments for care services should be positioned as the core component of national investment policy.

Notes: Girls cannot go to vocational high schools after primary education. Education programs should be developed specifically for girls and entrepreneurs should provide support for the schools. Ministry of Labor and Social Security provides social security of interns. There are no sanctions against employees who do not give on-the-job trainings to its interns and abuse working rights of them.
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 Employers should never employ unregistered workers; this needs to be monitored more strictly. Primary responsibility of the general directorate is to provide education services; workforce market should have more responsibility for employment issue. While the students expect to learn by practice, the schools cannot keep the students engaged and interested. Within a very intense 45-hour weekly curriculum, due to timing problems, guidance cannot be provided as it should be. We have proposed some solutions for strengthening employment and increasing the demand for vocational high schools; The minimum wage should be higher for vocational high school graduates. The insurance of the students should start as s/he starts vocational education and an earlier retirement plan should be implemented. Military service for vocational and technical high schools should have shorter duration and they should be able to perform their occupations while in the army. v- Ministry of Labor and Social Security 1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? The measures to increase youth employment are among the responsibilities of KUR. KUR is the authorized unit of the ministry for these issues. One of the most important reasons of unemployment in Turkey is the weak relationship between vocational education and employment. An action plan has been prepared to strengthen this relationship. Under the coordination of Occupational Competency Council, various responsible bodies are being determined and some measures to increase youth employment have been identified. The ministry works on the preparation of national employment strategy. One of the main focuses of this strategy consists of determining the measures to increase employment of disadvantaged groups such as women, youth and disabled. These efforts have been developed during a series of workshops with the participation of over 40 relevant bodies. We came together with all the stakeholders of the issue, not just youth employment players. There are some incentive policies for the development of youth employment. The ministry gives employment incentives since 2008, when Law No 5760 was passed.

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A new incentive system which supports both youth and the women has been introduced with Law No 6111. The system also provides support for those with vocational education and occupational competency certificates and for other groups such as those who attended KUR skill development courses. 2- How do you announce these? The announcements are made through ministry web site. We also organize press conferences with widespread attendance. KUR and Social Security Institution (SGK) make announcements for their own activities, they have local organizations in all cities; thus they have a greater ability to reach young people there. KUR has the ability to reach young people and schools through its web site, its provincial offices, and occupation consultancy service.

3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? KUR and SGK make regular announcements. They periodically disclose information about the number and the content of their incentives, for example. There is an operation on the implementation of workforce marked monitoring and evaluation system in KUR, the ministry will be in a position to gather information. The operation is being run both as an ISKUR project and under the ministry. 4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? Incentives for youth and women have been intensively used since 2008. Naturally, this is not about the choices of young people but of their employers. Before the Law 6111, employers could benefit only from one kind of incentive, now they can benefit from both youth and women incentives -of 5 points reduction in the premiums- simultaneously. This will encourage youth employment in the short and midterm. Young people benefit from our internship services more. Our specialized occupational centers project is implemented by the collaboration of Ministry of National Education, TOBB, Ministry of Labor and Social Security and KUR. The project is aimed at the encouragement of youth employment by means of both theoretical trainings and internship schemes. These programs are mainly implemented through KUR. 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? We do not get direct feedback from young people. The feedbacks reach us through other relevant bodies.
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6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? Our action plan is implemented under the coordination of three ministries: Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Labor and Social Security and Ministry of National Education hold annual meetings at the end of each year with the participation of the ministers in order to provide political support at the top level. 7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most?

8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? NOTES: It is important to have information about the critical points where young people have problems as unemployment figures for youth are much higher than the overall rate. We naturally have some information on the issue. As I mentioned before we gather information through other relevant bodies, but asking young people is the best method. There are two sides to the issue: young people and employers. We can reach employers through KUR workforce market surveys. We already reached a significant portion of the employers; however the information flow from young people is quite limited, so the results from our activities for the youth are very valuable to us. The lack of experience among youth is the most important limitation in youth employment; we try to take measures for this problem. The efficacy of employment incentives and internship programs with trial periods can be criticized. The meaningfulness of these from the point of youth can also be considered in depth. We know the attendance rate for ISKURs skill courses is low. If we have information about the causes for this low attendance, we can provide solutions for it. We need to be enlightened about these issues.

vi- KUR 1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? Our services are provided for general public. We do not specifically focus on youth, but we know 45-47% of our beneficiaries are between 17-35 years of age.

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Amongst the job opportunities we provide, there are activities carried out with Ministry of National Education. Young people mainly prefer jobs such as school cleaning and planting trees. Attendance of girls and young women is generally high in workforce training courses. We give 60-72 hours of entrepreneurial training. 5% of the attendants launch their own businesses; we assume this is a successful result for such a program. 3% is considered as success internationally and by KOSGEB. Insurance premiums of the attendants are paid and they receive 15 TL/day during entrepreneurial training. Some people attend only to get these benefits, thus there needs to be a qualification system in order to reach the real target group. There will be a survey and a test in order to select the attendants. The target is to reach 10,000 attendants. Another service provided is on-the-job trainings. On-the-job training is an internship program, aimed at the development of the vocational skills of graduates from high schools. The program is intended to encourage employment of the attendants. We match personal qualifications of the attendant with the needs and requirements of the employer. We give 5 internships in a 100-employe enterprise. If the enterprise does not accept our selection, it loses the right to receive an intern for that instance. The duration of this program is 6 months and the enterprise may ask for another intern at the end of this period. 65% of the interns are employed by the enterprises at the end of their internship although it is not mandatory for the employer. Interns receive 15TL/day and their insurance premiums are paid by the state. If the intern is trained through an ISKUR program, her/his premiums are paid by the state for 24 months. If s/he is a graduate of a vocational high school, the premiums are paid for 12 months. The beneficiaries of this system are mainly young people between 15-24 and women. Vocational Trainings: The potentials for workforce market and worker should be compared and a sound match and balance should be set. The employers do not find young people competent enough; therefore ISKUR provides vocational training support in order to accelerate adaptation to workplace and job. If the enterprise requesting trainings from ISKUR is a non-profit or an educational enterprise, it has to give 20% of employment guarantee, this rate is 51% for all other private enterprises. The duration of the employment has to be the same as the duration of the 3-month training. The employment rate of the service providers has increased whereas the requests have declined. UMEM The demand of the workforce market has been determined by means of need analyses done in the provinces. 100 vocational high schools have been equipped and
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instructors have been trained. Students and non-students can both attend these trainings. The employment rate reaches 90%. The trainings for 2011 have started and 10% of the target has already been reached. There can be difficulties with the attendance as the program is between 17.00 and 23.00 on weekdays or at the weekends. 2- How do you announce these? The announcements are made on the web sites. Service providers can also make the announcements if we have an agreement with them. Local media is used and invitation letters are posted and SMSs sent to those registered to ISKUR. 3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? Impact assessment for entrepreneurial trainings is done. Monitoring of the courses is done with the bylaws. But no formal monitoring and evaluation schemes exist. There is a 5-6-question survey to gather information from the attendants and to measure the satisfaction. 4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? We have demands from 18-29 age group. The demands of these people can be given by registration services. 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? There are 300 occupational consultants at the moment. Young people share their problems about their employers with these consultants. We execute a 4-section survey on the adequacy of the workplace, employer and the trainers. As they take the survey while they are with us, the results for employers turn out to be negative while results for us are always positive. Hence we encourage them to complete the survey on-line to receive fair results. 6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? We have collaborations with various public and private bodies such as Ministry of National Education, KOSGEB, Turkcell, Turk Telecom, General Directorate of Social Support and Solidarity and Ministry of Forests and Environment.

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We have Umut Yldz-Star of Hope Project for children drawn to crime with Security General Directorate. Vocational trainings provided for these children and their occupational tendencies are determined. Workforce market has been incorporated into the project by a tender for the services related to the project. 7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? 8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? The gravest problem is the bureaucracy. The basic problem with workforce market is the lack of goodwill. We analyze their needs, and provide courses, trainings and supportive programs but still we fail to satisfy them. They can abuse these services in order to exploit these resources. Young people/unemployed do not appreciate the jobs offered to them. They have great expectations when they are employed through KUR and expect to have better working conditions. They have expectations such as not working at weekends, leaving at 17.00 and not working in organized zones like OSTM. We have problems in planning the coordination of vocational trainings. NOTE: Young people should express their requests and expectations. Is it consultancy, underwater welders work? What is it?

vii- KOSGEB 1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? We provide entrepreneurial grants and aid funds to support SMEs and unemployed people. There is not a program which directly concerns youth employment. There are programs supporting R&D projects of university students. In this program the student project is evaluated by a board consisting of various members such as chambers of industry and commerce, and can receive support upon decision. There are protocols with ISKUR, private companies and universities in order to support young entrepreneurs. KOSGEB provides entrepreneurial certificate programs and also supports service sector. 2- How do you announce these?

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The announcements are made on the web site. The announcements are made through chambers of commerce, artisans and industry. Unemployed people should follow web sites as they are not registered to these chambers. KOSGEB will be organized in 81 provinces hereafter. We are organizing introductory seminars and meetings in 60 provinces. A program for the unemployed can be designed and various parties and social security bodies can be incorporated into this program. Such a program is yet to be considered. 3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? We follow up corporations but do not carry out monitoring and evaluation or the assessment of the services provided for young people. 4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? We do not have such a database. 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? We can reach our target groups through our web site which was internationally awarded. We have got corporate support for our web site to be used actively. We also use the site for data gathering. http://www.kosgeb.gov.tr 6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? We collaborate with all bodies who request it. 7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? We do not have definitive data on this. 8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? The qualifications of vocational high school graduates do not meet the demand and expectations of the workforce market. Occupations that no longer exist in the marketplace are still taught in these schools.

viii- International Labor Organization (ILO) 1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide?

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UN joint program Jobs for Everyone: National Youth Employment Program and Antalya Pilot Implementation is aimed at decreasing unemployment among youth and increasing employment rate for young women. The program started in 2009 with partnership of ILO and will conclude in 2012. Contributions to the preparation of ILO National Youth Employment Action Plan according to humane jobs principles by National Technical Team, and to the implementation of Occupational Status study by TUK and KUR. At local level, the capacity of Antalya KUR Organization will be developed and vocational trainings will be given in Antalya. 2- How do you announce these? Activities and studies have been announced by national and local media. ISKUR also contributed to the announcement in Antalya. 3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? We are planning a project for the encouragement of humane, sustainable and registered employment for the 15-24 age group and a project for the young people registered to KUR. These channels are intended to help monitoring and evaluation of our efforts. 4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? 5- Through which channels do you get feedback? 6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? UN Joint Program which has started in 2009 and is expected to conclude in 2012 is being implemented by four UN agencies: FAO, ILO, IOM and UNDP. The program is coordinated jointly by KUR and the National Program Implementer. The UN Joint Program is funded by MDG-F provided by the Government of Spain. 7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? The demand for tourism services in Antalya is quite high, but this project is intended to create various other employment fields.

8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these?

ix- State Planning Organization (Ministry of Development (DPT)

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1- (For transition to business life) What kind of services do you provide? We do not implement programs exactly focused on youth employment on the field. We do not have documentation on youth employment issue. There are recommendations in plan and programs for the betterment of the employment of women and related disadvantaged groups. We disclose unemployment rates. We recommend actions to alleviate vocational education and employment dispute to support youth employment. We also recommend and encourage flexible working schemes. We participate in relevant meetings and give feedback on the making of the legislation. We are a member of UN Joint Program. We work with ILO, UNDP, IOM and FAO for the preparation of national action plan for Jobs for Everyone Project Antalya Pilot implementation. The program is coordinated by KUR. It is aimed at the assessment of the opportunities for different job fields in Antalya region. Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of National Education, TK, KUR and DPT contribute to the ideas on the creation of new job fields. SODES (Social Support Program) is implemented in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. http://www.sodes.gov.tr/SODES.portal This program supports vocational trainings, sports activities and various courses for youth, fragile, disadvantaged groups. SODES is implemented by the Governorships in the region. This is one of the most comprehensive and successful projects on social inclusion in Turkey. It encourages development of projects created with local initiatives and NGO partnerships. The projects should have 1-year terms in order to be supported by SODES. DPT provides internship opportunities within itself for higher education graduates.

2- How do you announce these? As the implementation of these programs is carried out by various other bodies, the announcements are made on their own devices too. All information and announcements on SODES can be found on its own detailed web site. They also have documentation such as booklet and brochures.
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Announcements, adverts and calls for tenders also contribute to the communication for these.

3- Do you have monitoring and evaluation systems for the services you provide? There is a program for the evaluation of investment programs and efficacy of vocational trainings given by KUR. A monitoring and evaluation study for SODES will be carried out. Youth Strategies Program which is carried out in collaboration with General Directorate of Youth Services has no monitoring scheme. The draft was submitted to the parliament but is not implemented currently. Youth policies are often ignored when talking about Ministry of Youth and Sports. It has changed a bit now actually. The draft has gone to the parliament, a law is considered. We actually do not know how effective we have been in influencing these. We believe we had positive influence on it, especially on the proposed legislation. We provide assistance to relevant bodies; the rest is up to them.

4- Which of your services are used by young people most? Do you get feedback? Fieldwork is intense in SODES. Fieldwork and interviews produce feedback in the form of mails, e-mails and visits.

5- Through which channels do you get feedback? We do not receive direct feedback.

6- Do you collaborate with other institutions for youth employment efforts? If so, how? We have partnerships with public institutions, youth and other NGOs. We also provide guidance to other public institutions.

7- Which vocational fields do young people tend to prefer most? What do they need most? We reach young people especially through SODES. Educational projects are more successful and produce faster outcomes. Employment cannot be provided at the end of vocational training projects, resulting in disappointment and failure.
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Educational projects are sustainable in terms of their successful results. Another success is cultural and arts courses and activities. Vocational training projects have never been that successful.

8- What obstacles do you face for these services? Which solutions can be put forward for these? There are political and bureaucratic obstacles. Employers and employees cannot come to an understanding for flexible working programs for entrance to workforce market. Trade unions do not agree with flexible programs and employers are reluctant to improve working conditions. There isnt a comprehensive plan for the projects and activities carried out. The target group is obscurely defined and information flow is defunct, even non-existent. Incentives Law has been passed but the results have not been disclosed yet, so we do not have information about its consequences. The tasks and responsibilities of the institutions are not defined well.

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APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONS Focus group questions

1. Are they aware of the programs designed for them?

Internship and supportive programs Paid/Free training programs

2. Which institutions do they know?

About education and personal development About employment

3. Questions about education and future plans

How do they decide on the high schools? Orientations: Of family Of friends Of social circle Of teachers Gender discrimination Expectations about income Skills and tendencies Spatial proximity, and then decisions about higher education

Adequacy of education program Up to datedness of the content Learnability Implementation opportunities

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Evaluation of the internship programs from the students point of view Positive/negative experiences during internship Contribution to learn the occupation Material means or opportunity to learn? Supports during internship o From school o From individuals Adequacy of timing and duration of the internships o Hours (nighttime, weekend)

Future expectations Is it related to the branch s/he plans to work in the future? Does s/he need further education? In which field? Additional certificate or open education opportunities? Does s/he target higher education? Does s/he want to start working as soon as s/he graduates? How does s/he look for a job? Does s/he know methods of job seeking? Where to apply? Who can help? Which are the relevant web sites? Which methods has s/he used until now? How does s/he think s/he can find a job easily?

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Evaluation of gender difference Does being a female/male student bring about different roles/expectations? Opinions about marriage and military service. Is a mixed or separated educational environment better?

4. Social connections

What are information channels in their hometown?

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