The Technological Education Development Foundation (TEGEV), the first non-governmental organization established with the objective of contributing to the development of vocational and technical education in our country, assesses and implements mutual development opportunities by offering scholarship opportunities for students studying in vocational and technical schools, guidance on internships and employment, and acting as a bridge between schools and industrialists. We talked to Burak Kasimoglu, President of TEGEV, about vocational technical education in our country and the activities of the foundation.
Hi Burak, can you please talk about yourself a bit?
I was born in Ankara in 1978. After completing my primary, secondary and high school education in Ankara, I continued my academic life in the Mechanical Engineering department of Gazi University. I started my professional life in the cement sector in 2003, and have been working as a Technical Manager at SKF Turk company since 2008. I am married and have a 9-year-old daughter.
How long have you been participating in the Technological Education Development Foundation (TEGEV)?
As of 2017, I have been continuing my activities at TEGEV as a representative of SKF Turk company. I was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 2019-2020 period at the ordinary general assembly held in December 2018.
Can you tell us about TEGEV’s activities?
TEGEV, which was established for contributing to the development of vocational and technical education in our country and which will celebrate its 25th anniversary soon, is the first non-governmental organization to “touch” this field. At TEGEV, we get strength from our trustee members, who guide and lead the industry of our country as important representatives of both industry and technology. Our foundation offers scholarship opportunities to the students in vocational and technical schools, provides guidance on internship and employment issues, and assesses and implements mutual development opportunities by acting as a bridge between schools and industrialists.
Can you tell us about the current state of vocational and technical education in our country in general?
Assessing the industry of our country on the basis of technical personnel competence, I believe the biggest deficiency is the technician and technician staff, which are described as intermediate staff. The only way to eliminate the shortage of qualified labor in enterprises will be to position vocational and technical education in a much higher place than today. Although the Ministry of National Education has had very intensive studies and projects on vocational and technical education in recent years, I believe there is still a lot of work to do. I believe that there are many adjustments that need to be made systematically, such as developing school-industry cooperation models, increasing the facility adequacy of educational institutions for practical applications, developing trainers’ competence, increasing awareness among industrialists, and further broadening employment opportunities.
“The only way to eliminate the shortage of qualified labor in enterprises will be to position vocational and technical education in a much higher place than today.”
What kind of a roadmap should be followed to further improve the current curriculum?
I think we can improve the curriculum in vocational and technical education by understanding where technology and industrial world are going to and developing it in that direction. In other words, we should basically determine the related requirements and curriculum by developing educational institutions and industry cooperation models with an employment-oriented approach. A model that renews itself according to changing conditions and needs should be established. It is also important that theoretical education is reinforced with practical applications and offered to students in facilities suitable for their needs through equipped instructors. By analyzing the professions and business areas of the future correctly, we should focus on new professional branches that are suitable for current requirements. However, I believe that the most important thing is to further develop the cooperation between schools and industrialists, and industrialists should take more part in education.
What exactly do you aim with your philosophy of ”Learn by doing, Do by learning”?
Actually our message is quite clear… We emphasize that ideal learning starts at theoretical and laboratory level in schools and continue with practical applications in industry, while also teaching practical theory.
Do you also cooperate with chambers, unions or industrial organizations to ensure the continuity of development of vocational and technical education?
We make intensive cooperation with industrial organizations, organized industrial zones, chambers of industry and other non-governmental organizations. Eskisehir Chamber of Industry is one of the trustee members of our foundation. We are continuing our mutual support and cooperation activities with the PAGEV Foundation. In 2019, in particular, we were thrilled to have new trustee members from different cities in addition to Istanbul. Each of our new members is an important stakeholder in achieving our goals. Organized Industrial Zones play a major role in our ”Industrial Mastery School” project. Therefore, we will make close contacts with organized industrial zones in several cities, Istanbul in the lead, in 2020.
How many students do you offer scholarship opportunities to annually?
The total number of students we have given scholarships to in 2019 was 50. Some of them are students studying in vocational and technical schools, while the others are those studying in technical departments of universities. Our goal for 2020 is to exceed the “50 students” threshold. In line with this, we have invited all our members and educational volunteers to contribute to our scholarship fund with two major donation campaigns that we have launched in recent months. As a result of our campaigns in the last two months, we have reached about 10 new student scholarships for the next year.
“By analyzing the professions and business areas of the future correctly, we should focus on new professional branches that are suitable for current requirements.”
Are there any success stories among the students you have provided scholarship opportunities to?
Although our foundation is quite old, TEGEV education scholarships were first started in 2013. Our scholarship students have not yet started their working lives, in fact some of them have just graduated. At TEGEV, we are also striving to provide jobs for our graduate students and continuously follow up our students. Under the scope of another project of our foundation, we want our students to be mentors, in other words, big brothers and sisters, and to be role models for their minors who have recently received scholarships when they graduate and start working. Our young people are in great need of good role models. We have members who have graduated from Vocational and Technical high school and are currently working as senior managers. We are trying to create role models and offer some individual goals to young people by bringing them together with these managers. Of course, success stories will come after these efforts. I hope we share them with you in another interview.
Are there any projects you are carrying out for employment?
I can say that our most important project is the “Industrial Mastery School”. With this project, which is still in the pilot implementation phase, we aim to enable MTAL graduates who have just started working in businesses or the MTAL students who will soon graduate to receive training not only in technical fields but also in different areas such as personal development, financial management, personnel management, technology and digitalization. We signed a protocol with a school in 2019 and we are continuing our project works.
What are TEGEV’s goals for the coming years?
At TEGEV, we will continue to work with our valuable trustees, supporters and volunteers with the aim of raising vocational and technical education to the level of industrially developed countries, which is actually our main mission. We will keep on providing scholarship support to our vocational and technical high school students who are facing difficulties in educational life for economic reasons in our country, as well as to the students studying at the engineering faculties of universities. I can say that our goal in the short term is to reach the number of “100 scholarship holders”. Another important goal of our Foundation is to create efficient internship opportunities for vocational and technical high school students in enterprises. We believe that a properly designed internship program will prepare a sound ground for employment. Therefore, we will continue our workshops on the theme of “from internship to employment” that we have started recently. Our another important goal is to implement our “Industrial Mastery School” project in a pilot school and industrial zone, and then develop it even further. At TEGEV, any positive contribution that we can make to the education and learning life of our children, who will be the future of the industry of our country, will be our greatest responsibility and duty.
