Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Türkiye (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the observations of the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİŞK), transmitted by the Government in its 2018 and 2022 reports. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Article 1 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies and programmes. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in its 2018 and 2022 reports. The Government reports that, in 2016, amendments were made to the Vocational Education Law No. 3308 to introduce Government support for five years with regard to the enterprises’ payments to students, and that the subsequent amendment in 2021, extends this support for another five years. Also, amendments were made to the Secondary Education Institutions Regulation in order to make vocational and technical education more appealing, and the 2022 Directive on the Procedures and Principles on Recognition of Prior Learning was adopted to strengthen the processes for the validation of formal and non-formal learning. The Government further reports on the strategies adopted during the reporting period, notably: (i) the Eleventh Development Plan 2019–23; (ii) the Strategic Plan 2019–23 of the Ministry of National Education (MoNE); and (iii) the Pre-Accession Economic Reform Programme (ERP) 2021–23. In this context, the Committee notes that the Twelfth Development Plan 2024–28, supporting the framework of the 2053 Vision, was published in November 2023, and that the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) 2024–28, determining lifelong learning as one of the main goals of the National Education System, was also developed. With regard to employment of young persons, the Government refers to National Youth Employment Strategy (NYES) and Action Plan 2021–23, aiming to: (i) reduce the youth unemployment rate from 25.23 per cent in 2022 to 17.8 per cent in 2023; (ii) increase the youth labour force participation rate from 39.1 per cent in 2020 to 46 per cent in 2023; and (iii) decrease the share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) from 28.3 per cent in 2020 to 20 per cent in 2023; the implementation of the Strategy is monitored by the NYES Monitoring and Evaluation Board, including representatives of workers’ and employers’ organisations. The Government highlights the implementation of the project Development of Vocational Skills, and specifies that during the first phase of the project, from 2013 to 2016, 14,133 trainees acquired vocational certificates through 1,209 courses delivered in 35 provinces, while in the second phase, initiated in 2017 and expanded to 81 provinces, a total of 6,890 persons, of whom 4,956 women, applied for 422 courses during the reporting period. It also indicates that the project More and Better Jobs for Women: Women’s Empowerment through Decent Work in Turkey, implemented by the ILO and the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) from 2013 to 2018, included gender equality and women employment training for 450 İŞKUR staff, and trained 400 women in entrepreneurship. Lastly, the Government provides the detailed statistics, covering the 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2018 period, concerning: (i) vocational training programmes, provided by the Turkish Public Employment Agency (İŞKUR), where the total number of man and women trained from 2013 to 2018 is 620,501, of whom women account for 63.6 per cent; the total number of men and women trained in 2017 is 117,580, while in 2018 it stands at 54,663; (ii) on-the-job training programmes, where the total number of man and women trained 2013 to 2018 is 914,937, of whom women account for approximately 52.3 per cent; the total number of men and women trained in 2017 is 297,255, while in 2018 it stands at 127,363; and (iii) entrepreneurship training programs, where the total number of man and women trained from 2013 to 2018 is 466,266 of whom women account approximately 49 per cent; the total number of men and women trained in 2017 is 94,016, while in 2018 it stands at 216,124. The Committee welcomes the information received and asks the Government to continue providing updated information on the formulation and implementation of vocational education and training policies and programmes closely linked with employment needs, including programmes aimed at specific groups, such as young persons, women and persons with disabilities. It further requests the Government to indicate the reasons for the significant decreases in the number of beneficiaries of vocational and on-the-job training programmes, as well as the reasons for the significant increases in the number of beneficiaries of entrepreneurship training programmes over the years, notably in 2018 over 2017. Lastly, the Committee invites the Government to provide disaggregated statistical data on the number of vocational guidance and training graduates accessing employment following the completion of the training programmes.

Article 5. Cooperation with the social partners. Noting that the Government has not provided the specific information requested, the Committee once again requests the Government to communicate information on the cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations and other interested bodies in the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and vocational training policies and programmes at the national and local levels.