Dr. Yusuf Ekinci, President of the TOBB Turkey Education Council, drew attention to the changes in the field of education worldwide. Stating that vocational and general education are intertwined, Ekinci emphasized that all these changes are in line with the Ahi (guild) model of education.
Ekinci stated that in the Ahi tradition, moral and vocational training were conducted together, and shared his view that "Vocational and technical education should produce individuals who understand and use contemporary science and technology and develop new technologies."
Ekinci, who suggested that businesses employ more qualified technical personnel to be successful, said, "Addressing and implementing education with a national policy approach will absolutely result in success."
Vocational training should be compatible with working life.
Professor Saim İlhan Sezgin, a retired faculty member from Gazi University, pointed out that the success of the education system depends on its teachers. Sezgin emphasized the need to reopen vocational and technical education faculties, which were closed in 2009, in order to train qualified vocational and technical education teachers.
Saim İlhan Sezgin warned, "Teachers are the most fundamental element of an education system. If there is a decline in teacher training, a decline in the education system is inevitable."
Sezgin emphasized the need for vocational technical education and the tools, equipment, and laboratories used in education to be compatible with working life, stating, "Educational programs should be designed to take the job and the individual as references."
The experienced academic, who considers the inclusion of apprenticeship training within the scope of compulsory education through the legal amendment as a positive development, shared the following message: “The establishment and operation of vocational and technical high schools in Organized Industrial Zones is a significant development. The updating of workshop standards in vocational and technical education should be implemented.”
Qualified vocational training for value-added production
A panel titled "Vocational and Technical Education from Yesterday to Tomorrow" was held at the workshop. Orhan Aydın, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of OSTİM Technical University and Chairman of the Board of Directors of OSTİM, expressed the expectations of industrialists regarding vocational education.
In his speech, Aydın mentioned that teachers in vocational education should also participate in competition alongside industrialists, and emphasized that the value-added production that Turkey needs depends on quality vocational education.
Orhan Aydın listed the expectations of industrialists from vocational training as follows: employees who are far from rote learning, who can apply what they have learned, who can question, and who have a problem-solving profile.
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