VET4JOB’s overall objective is to improve sustainable livelihoods and employment prospects for refugees and host communities in Türkiye by supporting their skills development through high-quality VET and apprenticeship training in line with labour market needs. To achieve the objectives of the programme, a comprehensive set of activities are carried out to enhance access to vocational training and improve integration into the labour market for both apprentice students and vulnerable adults.

 Outreach efforts will identify candidate apprentices, NEETs, and households in need of skills development, while targeted support—such as in-kind support, risk prevention measures, and career guidance—will help ensure apprentice students complete their education and transition successfully into employment. Vulnerable adults, especially from apprentice students’ households, will benefit from vocational training, certification, and post-training support to improve their employability.

 In parallel, the programme strengthens the vocational training ecosystem by enhancing the capacities of Vocational Training Centres (VTCs), workplaces, and Adult Vocational Training Institutions (ADUVETs) through infrastructure support, capacity-building strategies, and stronger partnerships. Additionally, social cohesion and soft skills will be fostered through extracurricular activities, workplace engagement, and awareness campaigns aimed at promoting inclusive learning environments and addressing child labour. Together, these efforts aim to create a more supportive, equitable, and sustainable vocational education landscape.

 As the only actor targeting the apprentice students, Expertise France assumes an important and critical role in building a safe, healthy, peaceful and enriching training environment and preparing them for the future’s demanding job market.

 About social cohesion activities within VET4JOB-II

VET4JOB promotes a harmonious apprenticeship climate which includes quality training, safeguards in place, and enhanced social interactions among apprentice students from diverse backgrounds. To foster this climate, it is aimed to implement social cohesion activities with a process-oriented approach which means to develop the way an activity is carried out in line with certain principles that strengthen the foundational components of social cohesion (social relationships, a sense of belonging, working for mutual benefit).

The quality of activities is directly related not only to the activity itself but also to adherence to principles such as participation, do-no-harm, non-discrimination, a rights-based approach, and inclusiveness in all interactions with students.

It is believed that in such climate, students would enjoy sustainable and peaceful co-existence in school and workplaces, and build a career with their peers, regardless of origins or cultural differences.

Within this frame, social cohesion activities are organized at two levels:

 a.       Local social cohesion activities: These are interactive social activities mostly based on sports and arts, conducted in VTCs and workplaces throughout the school year. They are planned, implemented, and reported by local social cohesion focal points—either school counsellors or vocational teachers. To enrich quality of activities and to ensure inclusive and participatory implementation, it is planned to organize a 2-day social cohesion training for the focal points.

 b.      Central social cohesion activities: These activities include apprentice student forums and vocational solidarity events, planned and implemented by the central programme team. Both are prominent national-level events and regarded as signature events of the programme. Forums bring together apprenticeship system stakeholders and provide a platform for apprentice students to raise their voice about the positive and negative sides of the system. In vocational solidarity activities, students receive trainings and work in teams to develop sustainability-themed projects and present them at the national-level event.

 For apprentice students to receive maximum benefit from programme’s social cohesion efforts, “it is aimed to implement three activities mentioned under part IV of this concept note in such a complementary way so that 1. The three pillars of social cohesion (Social relations – Belonging – Common Good) are strengthened, 2. The resilience and capacity of students in face of emerging sectoral demands are increased, and hence 3. Overall quality of the apprenticeship system is improved.