What is the project about?

The Korean Government funded Increasing Employability in the Renewable Energy Project, which is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education (MoNE focuses on providing vocational training and skills certification in the renewable energy sector, including solar and wind energy, for host communities and Syrians in selected provinces. 

What has been the situation? 

The activities designed for the project are grouped under two output areas. 

1. Increasing employability through vocational training and skills certification in the renewable energy sector (especially solar and wind energy) for at least 1,800 Turkish host communities and Syrians in selected provinces.
2. Preparation of feasibility report for existing education/vocational training centres/vocational and technical Anatolian high schools.

The content of the main output of the project, the training program, was prepared by identifying sector needs through meetings with the private sector and sectoral civil society organizations. The project focuses on the manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of equipment and systems in renewable energy-using energy plants in Konya, Bursa, Kocaeli, Mersin, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Mardin, Şanlıurfa, and Gaziantep, especially targeting unskilled labour in the sector. The project also requires providing equipment to existing training centres for the support of practical training and the development of online blended learning models. In the project provinces, 11 Renewable Energy Laboratories have been established, each costing approximately 2 million TL. Spatial renewal and repair works were carried out for the laboratories, and equipment such as occupational health and safety equipment, solar panels, batteries, small-scale wind turbines, furniture, laptops, consumables, training kits, hardware equipment, 3D printers, CNC machines, and automation systems were procured. Instructor training has been provided three times for trainers at supported vocational training centres. The number of participants those who successfully completed the training program is over 1,700 people.

In addition, through private sector meetings held at regular intervals, the current needs of the sector were learned, and the outputs of the project were shared with representatives of the private sector. These meetings have undertaken a facilitative mission for certified beneficiaries to find jobs and establish their own businesses. Regular field monitoring visits are conducted to reach project results and receive feedback from beneficiaries.

What is our mission? 

It is expected that vocational education and certificates provided within the project will increase the employability of beneficiaries in the renewable energy sector and access to existing job opportunities.

How are we doing this? 

The Provincial Directorate of National Education is responsible for opening and coordinating vocational courses in the field of renewable energy in the project provinces. The trainings are provided by Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School teachers due to the lack of qualified master trainers in the field. Thus, Renewable Energy Laboratories, which were established within the scope of the project and contain equipment such as solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries, can also be used in formal education. After the announcements of the courses, the Provincial Directorate of National Education selects the participants from the applications received. The course program consists of a total of 247 hours, with 144 hours of face-to-face training and 103 hours online, and approximately 4 course periods are conducted per year. Participants are expected to attend face-to-face classes for 6 hours, 3 days a week, and the program is completed in approximately 2 months. Graduates who successfully complete the course receive a Ministry of National Education-approved achievement certificate and a Europass certificate supplement.

How will Türkiye benefit? 

The project is based on UNDP’s resilience-based development approach. This includes design and implementation modalities aimed to reducing vulnerabilities and contribute to individuals, communities, local institutions to be able to cope with and recover from the large influx of Syrian refugees. Therefore, the resilience-based approach enhances the investments in existing national and local systems to ensure they can adequately serve both host and Syrian communities. The approach is also strongly based on communities and people, who are an essential and often unrecognized part of the overall resilience system. The resilience-based development approach complements, but is distinct from humanitarian support by focusing, amongst others, on: i) creating a basis to transition towards sustainable development and support self-reliance for the refugees wherever possible. This includes labour supply and demand side to strengthen self-reliance and socio-economic integration; ii) cooperation with and delivery through local partners, particularly municipalities; and iii) all activities are environmentally friendly, some of which contribute actively to environmental sustainability. Within the framework of this project, in line with UNDP’s resilience-based development approach, the project is designed to benefit individuals from both communities and to provide institutional support through the assessment and development of training materials. 

The vocational training provided in the project in the field of renewable energy also serves these purposes.