SESRIC has successfully initiated, in cooperation with the Centre for Art and Vocational Training Courses of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İSMEK), the second Pilot Project of the OIC-VET Pilot Application Phase titled “Strengthening VET through Local Vocational Courses: the Experience of İSMEK”. The OIC-VET pilot project started with the opening ceremony of the 13th General Exhibition of İSMEK and took place at Feshane International Fair Congress and Culture Center, in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey during the period 9-10 June 2010, with the participation of representatives of the municipalities from nine OIC Member Countries, namely Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen.
The project was initiated with the inauguration of the 13th İSMEK General Exhibition that took place under the auspices of Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 8 June 2010at Feshane International Fair Congress and Culture Centre in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. During the inauguration ceremony Mrs. Emine Erdoğan welcomed the representatives from OIC Member Countries and talked about the importance of global efforts to end poverty and the need for solidarity among neighbouring countries in this respect. She underlined the importance of vocational education and training in poverty reduction and alleviation, and stated that İSMEK has shown great progress in making people involved in training activities and increasing their employability, reaching to approximately 1 million trainees in the last fourteen years. Mrs. Erdoğan commended the efforts of İSMEK for organising training courses for the citizens residing in Istanbul, as well as organising this study visit for OIC Member Countries in a view to opening its experience and expertise in the field of vocational training to other brotherly countries.
On the same occasion Dr. Sıdıka Başçı, Acting Director General of SESRIC, welcomed the participants of this significant project and expressed SESRIC’s thankfulness to İSMEK for their support provided to the participants in facilitating this important event. Dr. Başçı also mentioned that this important programme would generate benefits for the OIC Municipalities to provide better services to the citizens through close partnerships and networking among similar institutions operating in the member countries. Dr. Başçı also stated that this project is a first collaborative project among OIC Municipalities in the field of vocational training with a view to enhancing current capacity of VET in our cities and exchanging knowledge and expertise concerning local practices of vocational courses. In this respect this project is a timely decision as we believe that sharing the experiences of ISMEK will be instrumental to the success of many countries to take similar initiatives in training talented people in the areas of interest.
During the opening ceremony, Mr. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, Governor of Istanbul, pointed out to the importance of İSMEK courses and expressed that they are an example of a modern and social municipality services. On the other hand, Dr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul, pointed out to the remarkable achievements undertaken by İSMEK and congratulated the graduates prior to the opening of the exhibition.
Following the inauguration ceremony the participants of the project have made a comprehensive tour to the 13th General Exhibition during which they had the opportunity to see more closely thousands of products created by İSMEK trainees in their ateliers and workshops during the training term 2009-2010, and observe remarkable achievements that was accomplished by individuals attended the courses run by İSMEK.
The project proceeded with a workshop on the second day where the participants have learned more on İSMEK practise, and exchanged their knowledge and experience with regard to vocational training courses undertaken by the local governments / municipalities in their respective countries. The delegates also furnished about their practise of local training initiatives, projects and programmes in their respective countries, and explored on the possibility of developing joint initiatives and programmes for establishing multilateral cooperation in the area of vocational training.
Project participants also visited the İSMEK Training Atelier and Çukurbostan Course Centre. This visit allowed them to witness the vocational gains of İSMEK trainings on the individuals as well as provided knowledge about the type of courses offered by İSMEK in general and products produced by the trainees benefitting from these courses.
Having inspired by the agreements they reached during the workshop, the representatives of OIC Member Countries participating in the project agreed upon a number of recommendations for consideration for future cooperation and collaboration among OIC Municipalities and relevant institutions.
