GRANT FOR VOCATIONAL PROJECTS FROM TURKISH NATIONAL AGENCY

A grant of 23 million euros was allocated to 348 projects conducted within the scope of Leonardo da Vinci Programme for Vocational Education and Training which is supported by Turkish National Agency.

In the statement made by the Ministry for EU Affairs, it was declared that project application results of the mobility action of Leonardo da Vinci Programme for Vocational Education and Training for 2013 which supports the career developments of individuals with a Europe experience had been announced. Through the projects to be carried out within the framework of the Programme, 13.245 individuals will have the opportunity for internship and training related to their own professions in Europe.

According to the statement, 2.293 project applications were made to the Programme which provides grant support for a wide range of institutions and organizations, from vocational high schools to universities, from public institutions to non-governmental organizations and from private companies to municipalities. It was pointed out that analyzing the results on the basis of provinces; Ankara led the way this year in terms of both the number of projects approved and the amount of allocated grant.

It was recorded that in terms of the number of projects, Ankara is in the first place with 33 projects and is followed by Istanbul with 15, Kayseri and Izmir with 14 projects each and by Bolu with 13 projects. In terms of the amount of allocated grant, the capital is followed by Bolu, Kayseri, Izmir and Istanbul.

In his statement, the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said:

"The projects conducted within the scope of Turkish National Agency Leonardo da Vinci Programme for Vocational Education and Training contribute to increase the quality and attraction of vocational education and training in Turkey and thus perform a significant function in terms of training qualified labour force in our country. Within the scope of these projects, grant in amount of approximately 100 million euros was allocated for more than 3 thousand projects and more than 50 thousand citizens had the opportunity of increasing their knowledge, skills and qualifications related to their professions in Europe. This year too, 13.245 citizens will have the opportunity to be trained in Europe within the scope of 348 vocational education and training projects prepared in various fields such as agriculture, tourism, renewable energy, IT, automotive, machinery, health and foreign trade. 714 of them are handicapped persons and within the scope of these projects, the country which sends the largest number of handicapped participants for vocational education and training in Europe is Turkey.”