School-Based Improvement in VET: “The 1,000 Schools in Vocational Education and Training Project”

Abstract

Vocational education and training (VET) faces a significant transformation after the 2000s, due to the widespread use of automation and artificial intelligence-based production technologies. VET also have other struggles including higher student flow to academic track and higher rate of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in VET institutions. In this context, it is of great importance to improve the school climate of VET institutions. The “1,000 Schools in Vocational Education and Training Project” was initiated by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in order to extending the paradigm shift in recent years in VET. This study aims to evaluate how school-based improvements are made across Turkey in the project. The project, which is the largest-scale programme for the improvement of Turkish VET system, covered approximately 25% of VET high schools in Turkey. Within the scope of the project, 1,000 disadvantaged schools based on education indicators were selected. As a part of multi-stage support; more than one hundred thousand students attended academic support programs, and more than four hundred thousand students attended psychosocial support and coping with addiction trainings. The number of participants in pedagogical and leadership skill programme for teachers and school administrators has exceeded three hundred thousand. Parents’ participation in open secondary schools, open high schools and vocational courses was encouraged, and more than 11 thousand parents were ensured to attend these trainings. Within the improving of schools’ physical infrastructure, new laboratories and libraries were established and workshops in schools. The project proofs that the school climate can be improved via multi-stage support and it has become a practical model the "10,000 Schools in Primary Education Project".