The Vocational Education Cooperation Protocol between the Ministry of National Education and Baykar Technology for the opening of Baykar National Technology Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, which will operate in the field of aviation and defense industry, was signed by Minister Mahmut Özer and Baykar General Manager Haluk Bayraktar. Özer said, "For the first time in this school, each student will receive a scholarship equal to the minimum wage."
In his speech at the cooperation protocol signing ceremony held at the Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center, Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer said that due to the wrong education policies implemented for years, it caused traumas in the education system for a long time.
Expressing that the aforementioned practices aim to distract academically successful students from vocational education, Özer said: 'I can't find the staff I'm looking for, I can't find an apprentice, I can't find a journeyman.' In our country, complaints have emerged in this sky dome for years. After the coefficient application was abolished in 2000, all of our Ministers of National Education spent serious efforts, efforts and efforts to strengthen vocational education. What we did was this: Regarding the strengthening of vocational education, the main source of employment is no longer the state, as it was in the 2012s and 1940s, because the state has withdrawn from the source of employment and returned to its real functions. Now the private sector has started to determine the dynamics of the free market workforce. What we need to do then is to rebuild vocational education together with sector representatives. This is what we wanted from the private sector, both during my vice ministry and my ministry: Do not build a school building for us because we have the budget and power to afford it. Numerous social policies regarding equal opportunities in education have been implemented consistently. Therefore, we did not have a problem with the budget, let's design vocational training together. Let's update the curriculum in vocational education together. Let's plan the skills training of the students together. Let's plan the on-the-job and professional development training of our teachers' vocational field and workshop teachers together, but let's give priority to employment. Let's link education with employment. In fact, we have seen that sector representatives also want to take an active part in all processes, vocational training processes. In a very short time, Turkey witnessed sector representatives entering the field of vocational training.
Emphasizing that vocational high schools have turned into a type of education where young people compete with each other to settle, Özer said, “We took the first step with ASELSAN. Turkey, which has become so strong in the field of defense industry, that now gives importance to domestic manufacturing, did not have a single school that received training in this field. For the first time, ASELSAN Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School started accepting students from the 1% success rate. Then, vocational education started to get stronger with an orientation such as Teknopark Istanbul, where the most successful students, whose examples are increasing day by day, were included in the process and saw their careers there.” made its assessment.
Stating that they are also trying to increase the production capacity of vocational training, Özer said, “We had three goals in production within the scope of revolving funds: First, to learn by doing. In other words, to be able to place learning by doing at the heart and focus of education… Second, let's synchronize the production of vocational education with the labor market so that we can increase their employability after doing this. Third, as you know, within the scope of the revolving fund, students can receive as much as the minimum wage and our teachers can receive two minimum wages as a contribution to production.
With these moves, we increased our production capacity from 2018 million in 19-200 to 2022 billion in 2. Our target this year is 3 and a half billion. We distributed 100 million TL to students and 200 million TL to our teachers in vocational high schools. In other words, while the student was studying, he started to establish a fair relationship with labor.” used his statements.
In his speech, Minister Özer pointed to the origin of the concept of ahi-order and emphasized that the origin of ahi-order and the type of education carried out in vocational education exactly coincide. Özer said, “When you look at the Ottoman Empire, when you look at the Seljuks, the values education is always tried to be built on the craftsmen, because the economic examples and the way of life in the society are shaped accordingly as these values are revealed.” he said.
Expressing that they started the R&D period in vocational education with the increase in the production capacity in vocational education, Özer said, “We opened 55 R&D centers in the Kulliye with the presence of our President. R&D started to be discussed in vocational education. This is a date.” said.
Özer stated that vocational high schools have turned into places where innovative studies are carried out and continued his words as follows: At the beginning of the 2000s, the number of products registered by the Ministry of National Education was 2,9 per year. Patent, useful modern trademark and design registration… I'm not talking about commercialization. We closed the year 2022 with 8 intellectual property registrations, of which 300 were commercialized. Vocational high schools have now started to export abroad. Vocational high schools are not only exporting the product, but also able to produce the machine that produces that product. In other words, if you set out with the claim of growth on the way of the producing country and you cannot produce dynamically for the development that corresponds to it in the education system, it is not possible for you to make this production sustainable. The second most critical move we made was the re-transformation of vocational training centers that train apprentices, journeymen and masters, which are the most important human resource needs of small and medium-sized enterprises where apprenticeship, journeyman and mastership training is given that we have forgotten for years.
Referring to the transformation made in the vocational training law on December 25, 2021, Minister Özer stated that thanks to this transformation, vocational training centers have become very attractive for both employers and youth. Özer noted that before the transformation in question, the number of apprentices, journeymen and masters in Turkey was 159 thousand, and after the transformation, the number of apprentices, journeymen and masters reached 1 million 410 thousand in the vocational education system today. Özer said, “In short, vocational education is now more dynamically ready to train our country's human resources in this field, as the Turkish Century, in that new century that our President has drawn, as it has overcome the trauma it experienced as a result of the intervention made to prevent the country from completing its economic development with the intervention of that February 28 process. and it is overlooked.” used the phrase.
Minister Özer said that they have recently started to add new moves to the vocational education system and said, “We opened Özdemir Bayraktar Aviation and Space Technologies Vocational High School, Turkey's first vocational high school in this field in Ankara, and it will start accepting students for the first time in this new academic year.” shared his knowledge.
“Baykar National Technology Vocational High School will be a vocational high school with many features”
Özer talked about the importance of the signing ceremony program and continued his speech with the following words: Today, in the last decades, in the Baykar group, which has been the driving force of the defense industry moves that gave confidence to the citizens of our country and instilled fear in the enemy, Baykar Milli Teknoloji Occupational Health and Safety (Baykar Milli Teknoloji) aims to make this growth sustainable. We are on a very important eve for the establishment of the High School. Today we are together at the signing ceremony. There will be a vocational high school with many features. Firstly, students will be admitted with an exam, but they will not only accept students with an exam, but also the students who are placed through the exam will go through an interview. The second will be a preparatory school, English will be a one-year preparatory school. International experts in this field, in the Baykar group, will attend the lectures. Students will not look for a place to receive skills training related to the defense industry outside, they will receive skills training directly here. Each student will be supported by the highest rate of scholarships in our current schools. We do not have a type of school that receives scholarships associated with the minimum wage within the system of the Ministry of National Education. For the first time, this is our school, all students, we will receive 50 students, each student will receive a scholarship equal to the minimum wage, when the minimum wage changes, that scholarship amount will also increase. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who contributed to the realization of our high school. I wish our high school good luck for both vocational education and the future of our country.
“We must prepare for the future”
Baykar General Manager Haluk Bayraktar said that the country has come to an important position in the world in the development of defense industry products, especially unmanned aerial vehicles.
Stating that the position reached today is indisputably very valuable, especially in terms of independence, Bayraktar said, “However, developing knowledge and technology requires constant effort and attention. For this reason, seeing the knowledge we have and the real point sufficient today is the biggest obstacle to our progress and development. For this reason, we must continue our work for the future with passion, plan quickly and continue to move forward with determination. We must prepare for the future. Continuity and sustainability will be important touchstones on this path. For this, we must use our resources in the most efficient way and improve their quality and quantity.” made its assessment.
Pointing out that their duty is to train young people who will bring new "Baykars" to the country in a qualified way, Bayraktar explained that they have stepped into cooperation with the Ministry in this direction, which they attach great importance to. Bayraktar added that they aim to train young people who will carry the country to the future, especially in the field of aviation and space, at Baykar National Technology Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, which they plan to operate in the next academic year.
After the speeches, the relevant protocol was signed by the Minister of National Education Özer and Baykar General Manager Haluk Bayraktar.
Scholarships will be provided to young people
Within the scope of the protocol, Baykar National Technology Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, which will be opened for the first time in the field of defense, aviation and space in Istanbul, will receive preparatory + 4 years of education. Successful students here will be supported with Baykar scholarship in both high school and university education.