Opinions of school administrators and teachers working in vocational high schools regarding the Vocational Education Program

Enabling individuals to acquire vocational knowledge and skills in line with their abilities and to adapt to technological changes can be achieved through vocational and technical education—a system that involves the active participation of stakeholders and plays a key role in the economic and social development of nations. This study aims to determine the views of school administrators and teachers at vocational high schools implementing the Vocational Education Center (MESEM) Program regarding its application. A case study design, one of the qualitative research methods, was employed for this research. To ensure an in-depth examination of the topic, participants were selected using maximum variation sampling, a purposive sampling method. The study group consists of ten participants from Vocational and Technical Anatolian High Schools implementing the MESEM Program in the X district of Edirne during the 2024-2025 academic year. The participants include six school administrators (two principals and four assistant principals in charge of the MESEM Program) and four teachers (two general knowledge course teachers and two vocational course teachers) involved in the program. A semi-structured interview form, created by the researcher, was used as the data collection tool. The data obtained through interviews were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The findings revealed that the MESEM Program contributed positively to vocational high school administrators by providing an additional assistant principal staffing slot and by strengthening social relationships with the community. However, it was also found that school administrators were negatively affected by disadvantages stemming from economic reasons, student-related issues, challenges in the teaching process, problems with the e-MESEM system, and difficulties related to skills training in businesses. From the teachers' perspective, payment for extra teaching hours, smaller class sizes in the MESEM Program, and the number of course hours in the framework curriculum were considered advantages. However, factors related to the student profile, low job satisfaction among teachers in the program, the launch of the MESEM application without prior in-service training, and difficulties in performing coordination duties were identified as disadvantages. The research concluded that while the implementation of the MESEM Program in vocational high schools offers some advantages to school administrators and teachers, on the whole, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. It is recommended for future researchers that this study, conducted with a qualitative model, be replicated using a mixed-methods approach. Furthermore, recommendations for policy-makers could include reducing the workload of school administrators, increasing the school attachment of students enrolled in the MESEM Program, limiting student transfers, and enhancing the pedagogical competencies of the individuals responsible for training at enterprises.