Strengthening the Vocational Education and Training System in Turkey (SVET) is one of the main programmes agreed between the EU and the Turkish Government to make Turkey able to fulfill the requirements of the Acquis Communautaire in the field of education and training. The SVET programme is aimed at assisting the Turkish Government, through the Ministry of National Education, in the process of modernisation and adaptation of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system to the socio-economic needs of the country and to the principles of life-long learning.

The SVET project is very sensitive to promote Turkish Social Partners’ participation in supporting the modernisation of the VET system. In fact, a higher involvement of Social Partners’ in institutional and educational issues is a key factor in bringing the VET system closer to public, filling the gap between demand and supply in education and ensuring conditions for successful implementation of the reform at the central and local level.

The objective of this grant scheme is to strengthen the participation and capacity of Turkish Social Partners in supporting the modernisation of the VET system.

This scheme is linked, but not limited, to the second immediate objective of the SVET project, i.e. the strengthening of institutional capacity at national, regional and local level of public administration, social partners’ representatives and companies. In fact, projects financed under this grant scheme may also contribute to the development of the national reform and to the decentralisation of the VET system. Therefore, initiatives sharing SVET project’s priorities, utilising its resources and complementing its activities are welcome.

1. Increasing awareness of Turkish Social Partners about practices, issues, participation and developments in VET, and in particular of the role played by Social Partners in EU Member States/Acceding and Candidate Countries in making VET systems more respondent to the needs of the labour market;
2. Institutional development of Turkish Social Partners, including the establishment of contacts and cooperation agreements with their EU Member States /Acceding and Candidate Countries counterparts;
3. Improvement of Turkish social partners’ capacity in the delivery of VET;
4. Establishment and reinforcement of partnerships in VET among Social Partners, formal and informal training providers and companies in particular at local level.

The programme is open for all sectors of the Turkish economy. However, projects addressing sectors identified as priority for the SVET Project are particularly welcome. They are:

1. Food and food processing;
2. Construction;
3. Textile and clothing;
4. Technical engineering, maintenance and construction;
5. Electronic engineering, maintenance and construction;
6. Tourism;
7. Automotive sector.

The duration of an action shall not exceed 18 months.

Actions must take place in Turkey or one of the EU member states/ Acceding/ Candidate Countries.