The Ministry of National Education has activated the production capacity of vocational schools during country's fight against Covid-19 pandemic and produced most needed products. Vocational education institutions have produced various different kinds of products such as disinfectants, masks, face shields and disposable allovers and aprons as well as ventilators and mask machines in a very short period of time and delivered especially to health workers. Some of these products were exported to foreign countries.

 

The Ministry of National Education has initiated an R&D period for the development of production capacity and reinforcement of vocational training. The Ministry has announced the establishment of 30 R&D centers in 16 cities. Within this framework, R&D centers were founded in 10 schools in İstanbul, 3 schools in Ankara, 3 schools in Bursa, 3 schools in Konya, 2 houses in Denizli, and schools in Düzce, Gaziantep, Hatay, İzmir, Kocaeli, Kütahya, Samsun, Sivas, Erzurum, Tekirdağ and Tokat.

 

Deputy Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer said that there is a new phase ahead of vocational training which increased its production capacity during the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Özer stated, "R&D centers established in vocational schools during Covid-19 pandemic produced many products varying from ventilators to mask machines and from video laryngoscope device to air filter devices. For the first time in vocational training, these products were exported. Reinforcement of training-production relationship will increase the quality of vocational training and employment rate of graduates."

 

Stating that R&D centers were determined according to infrastructure and production capacity of schools, Özer went on to say: "We would like to make a contribution to the economic development of our country by associating each R&D center with prior research areas of our country. We will focus on patent, useful model, design and brand production and registration activities in these centers. We will support research capacities by making additional investments. Moreover, we are planning to organize vocational development training of vocational school teachers in these centers."

 

Underlining that the performance of every R&D center will be monitored on an annual basis, Özer said, "Number of these centers will not be limited with 30. We will support the research capacity of our schools and set successful schools as new R&D centers. Consequently, production and intellectual right capacities of all schools will be reinforced. I would like to thank to Directorate General of Vocational and Technical Schools for their contribution. Moreover, I would like to thank and congratulate administrators and teachers of selected vocational and technical schools."

 

Ankara'da ASELSAN Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Mehmet Rüştü Uzel Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Yenimahalle Şehit Mehmet Şengül Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Bursa'da Hacı Sevim Yıldız Furniture and Interior Design Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Otomotiv Endüstrisi İhracatçıları Birliği Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Tophane Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Denizli İş Adamları Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Düzce Borsa İstanbul Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Erzurum Atatürk Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Gaziantep Fatih Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Hatay İskenderun Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, İstanbul Sarıyer Mehmet Rıfat Evyap Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Kartal Şehit Öğretmen Hüseyin Ağırman Hüseyin Ağırman Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Fatih Sultanahmet Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Pendik Teknopark İstanbul Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Beşiktaş İSOV - Dinçkök Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Beşiktaş İstanbul Technical University Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Küçükçekmece Nahit Menteşe Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Kağıthane Gültepe Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Maltepe Küçükyalı Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Üsküdar Haydarpaşa Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, İzmir Bornova Mazhar Zorlu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Kocaeli, Gebze Çelik İhracatçıları Birliği Ali Nuri Çolakoğlu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Konya Çumra Çatalhöyük Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Beyşehir Huğlu Savunma Sanayi Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Kütahya Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Samsun Atakum Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Sivas Atatürk Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Tekirdağ Çerkezköy Türk Tekstil Vakfi Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, Tokat Merkez Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School.