The 2nd Steering Committee Meeting of the Project for the Development of Job and Vocational Counseling Services was Held in Ankara

The 2nd Steering Committee Meeting of the Project, conducted by our Institution and in which the Department of European Union and Financial Aids of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security is the Contracting Authority, was attended by our Deputy Minister Prof. Dr. It was held with the participation of Lutfihak Alpkan.

Our Deputy General Manager, Dr. Pürnur Altay, Head of the European Union and Financial Assistance Department Süreyya Erkan, Program Manager of the European Union Delegation to Turkey Ahmet Karan, representatives of our Ministry, İŞKUR and stakeholder institutions.

At the opening of the meeting moderated by Oğuzhan KÜPELİ, Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations and Projects Department of our Institution and Senior Representative of the Operations Beneficiary of the Development of Job and Vocational Counseling Services Project (SROB); Our Deputy General Manager, Dr. Pürnur Altay stated that with our Project, which has a very intensive preparation process, we aim to improve the capacity of İŞKUR, especially in the field of job and vocational counseling, and to provide more effective services for groups that require special policies. Stating that as İŞKUR, we continue to contribute to the employment of disadvantaged groups and to the development of institutional capacity by transforming our close collaborations with the European Union, the United Nations and other international organizations into projects, our Assistant General Manager said that since the beginning of the 2000s, we have raised 200 million Euros only with our projects carried out with European Union funds. He said that we have exceeded the use of funds. Altay also stated that it is aimed to reach more job seekers, students and employers through the development of our job and vocational consultancy services and our institutional capacity, and that the Project for the Development of Job and Vocational Counseling Services, which was implemented with the European Union and Turkey Financing and will be implemented between 2020-2023, is only a corporate project. He emphasized that it is not seen as a capacity project and it is considered as an important gain in terms of the target audience that İŞKUR serves.

Stating that the Project for the Development of Job and Vocational Counseling Services will create a multiplier effect in terms of both the activities to be carried out and the outputs to be obtained, Süreyya Erkan, Head of the Department of European Union and Financial Aids of the MoLSS, said, “Within the scope of the project, approximately 6 thousand personnel will be trained. Job seekers and employers will come together at career fairs. Cooperation of İŞKUR with universities will be increased. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the realization of the project and will contribute in the future.” said.

Ahmet Karan, Program Manager of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, said that as the EU, they have implemented many projects since the beginning of the 2000s, and that İŞKUR is an experienced institution in this regard. Underlining that job and vocational counselors are the faces of İŞKUR in the field, Karan stated that the project will have important outputs in the development of job and vocational counseling services.

After the opening speeches, the Team Leader of the project, Michael Heathcote, made a presentation about the progress of the project in the last 6 months and the plans for the next 6 months.

After the technical presentation, our Deputy Minister Prof. Dr. Lutfihak Alpkan, on the other hand, said that they aim to complete this project, which includes multidimensional studies, in the best way possible with excitement and motivation.

The meeting ended after the opinions and suggestions of the stakeholder institutions were received.