Application of strengthening the vocational eduation in Turkey project in vocational high schools

SVET (Strengthening the Vocational Education in Turkey) is a five-year project resulting from an agreement signed between the European Commission and the Government of Turkey. The project aims at strengthening Turkey's VET system rather than imposing an alien structure. Turkey's international trade, its political ambitions for joining the EU, and its promotion of domestic and international investments give the project an urgent international dimension. This also implies that Turkey has to harness all its economic resources, and also that a degree of decentralization is inevitable since much of its industrial and economic activities are regionally based.Any effective vocational education and training system depends on its congruence with the dynamic forces of the labor market and its respect for the culture it serves. The dynamics of the labor market depends on the needs of industry and commerce (the demand side, often ? but by no means always ? definable at a more centralized level) and the availability of trained individuals (the supply side, definable at a more local level) to meet them in their current form and adapt to them in their future form.This dissertation is based on implementation of SVET in Vocational High Schools in Turkey. In this concern, goals of SVET, social partners, aimed education standards, national qualification system, modal vocational education programs are analyzed; benefits of the project and problems appeared during implementation are determined; labor market needs analysis, quality assurance and progress reports are observed.Keywords: SVET, Vocational Education, Modular Education, National Qualifications System