UNDP’s vocational training on renewable energy in Türkiye targets a total of 1,600 trainees in more provinces next year

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) implements a training programme in the field of renewable energy for Syrians under temporary protection and host community members in Türkiye in partnership with the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) General Directorate of Lifelong Learning, with funding from the Republic of Korea. At the 3rd steering committee meeting of the initiative held on 21 June, partners decided to extend the programme until the end of 2023 as a result of the success of operations in the last two years. In 2023, new provinces will be added to the programme to reach a total of 1,600 trainees in more regions of Türkiye.

The applied vocational and technical training programme, designed to eliminate the gap of intermediate workforce in the renewable energy sector while supporting participants to gain new skills and access employment opportunities, is a hybrid programme covering both solar and wind energy. Syrian refugees and host community members who successfully complete the training are entitled to receive internationally valid Europass certificate, strengthening their access to employment opportunities in the growing renewable energy sector.

Seher Alacacı Arıner, UNDP Türkiye Assistant Resident Representative (Programme), emphasized that renewable energy investments are gaining more and more importance in all sectors due to energy expenditure costs, and within the scope of sustainability and green transformation, and UNDP will continue to support implementations in this field. She also added that a solid partnership has been established with MoNE and that blended learning modality is one of the important achievements of this project and partnership.

The 247-hour course programme, launched in March 2021 for 500 trainees, used to proceed face-to-face in 5 provinces, namely Bursa, Kocaeli, Konya, Hatay, and Mersin. In 2022, Istanbul was included in the programme for a target of 1,000 trainees and the course programme was switched into blended learning modality, which combines digital and face to face learning.

Within the scope of the blended learning modality, 103 hours of theoretical information were transferred to digital content that the trainees can follow before and after the face-to-face lessons. Thus, while digital literacy skills of the trainees are developed, the time spent in the classroom is reserved for discussion and practice. The training programme, which is the first programme offered with blended learning modality among 2,750 courses under General Directorate of Lifelong Learning is expected to be a pioneer.

Funded with US$2.8 million by the Republic of Korea, the initiative will continue to be a part of UNDP Türkiye’s portfolio aiming to improve access to labour markets, strengthen livelihoods, support public services, and build social cohesion in order ultimately to enhance the self-reliance of Syrian refugees and resilience of host communities.