Lifelong learning activity centers, programs, and databases in Türkiye are presented in Ttable below. 

Table : Lifelong Learning Activity Centres, Programmes, and Database

Non-Formal Education Programs

Non-formal education programs are structured in three main categories:

 Literacy Courses: Participants who are successful in the “Adult Level I Literacy Teaching and Basic Education Program Course” or in the “Adult Literacy Level I Placement Exam” are awarded a “Literacy Certificate”. Those who are successful in the “Adult Level II Basic Education Program” Course or in the “Adult Literacy Level II Placement Examination” are awarded a “ Adult Level II Education Achievement Certificate”.

General Courses: Theses courses are non-modular courses. They consist of health, family life, mother and child education programs, civic education programs, sports, personal development and training programs, art and design, foreign languages program, social and Agriculture, Livestock and Food programs.

Vocational and Technical Courses: These courses are modular courses. They cover fields and branches such as vocational training programs, basic skills development programs and technology use programs. Vocational and technical programs are developed and implemented by MoNE in cooperation with relevant institutions and organizations. Vocational education programs are developed in modular structure in accordance with national occupational standards and national qualifications.

Courses are organized for individuals with special education needs in order to equip them with knowledge and skills in vocational, technical, social and cultural fields, to bring them to life and to make them productive individuals. In the organization of these courses, cooperation is established with the Directorate General of Special Education and Guidance Services, higher education institutions and relevant institutions and organizations. Special classes and groups can be formed for individuals with special education needs, and necessary measures are taken to ensure that they benefit from the courses attended by individuals without special needs.

Non-Formal Education Institutions

Public Education Centers (PEC)

These are educational institutions that aim to fulfill the general objectives of Turkish National Education as well as the goals and functions of non-formal education, by providing services extending to provincial and district centers, as well as towns and villages. Alongside public reading rooms, they offer services that equip people with knowledge and skills, support behavior development, and provide educational guidance to promote the social, cultural, and economic development of the public.

Open Education Schools

Open education schools that provide educational services through distance learning are as follow.

• Open Education Secondary School
• Vocational and Technical Open Education School
• Open Education High School
• Open Education Imam Hatip High School
• Vocational Open Education High School

Advanced Technical Schools for Girls

The Advanced Technical School for Girls are non-formal education institutions that conduct research, development, evaluation, archiving and production activities in the fields of traditional Turkish clothing and handicrafts and ensure the survival of handicrafts. These cultural institutions aim to carry the traces of the past to the future by aiming to keep traditional Turkish handicrafts alive and branded in our country and in the world with a quality education approach.

The Advanced Technical School for Girls are educational institutions distinguished from others by their ability to produce works of artistic value and to train masters with this level of competence. These institutes provide opportunities for adults to acquire a profession by developing their vocational knowledge and skills. At The Advanced Technical School for Girls course programs specifically designed for these institutions are implemented.

Vocational Training Centers (MEM)

The aim of the vocational training center program in our country is to provide basic vocational training to students in compulsory education and adults over the age of 18 and to prepare them for work in accordance with the demand of the sector. Vocational training centers carry out mastership trainings within the scope of the Framework Curricula in 39 fields and 193 branches approved by BoE.

Apprenticeship training has been included within the scope of formal education and thus, it is aimed to meet the apprentice needs of small tradesmen and artisans, which are the cornerstone of our economy, and to ensure that apprentice students learn the professions on the spot with the master-apprentice relationship that comes from the Ahilik culture. Apprentice students will be able to start their own business by obtaining a journeyman’s certificate at the end of apprenticeship training and a master’s certificate in the following process.

The duration of master’s training is 4 years and students receive theoretical training at school for at least one and at most two days a week and skills training in workplaces under the supervision of a master instructor for four or five days a week.

Students who successfully complete the training receive a journeyman/mastership certificate. Students can receive a high school diploma if they wish, provided that they complete the difference courses to be determined by the Ministry through face-to-face training programs to be organized in vocational training centers or open secondary education institutions. In addition, foreign students under temporary protection can also receive education in vocational training centers.

Vocational training center students receive their theoretical training 1 day a week at the training center or at the training places provided by the enterprises, and skills training 4 days a week at the workplaces under the supervision of a master instructor. The theoretical and practical trainings of journeyman or master students are planned and carried out in a way to complement each other.

Master Teacher Training: The person who has gained the qualification of master; who is responsible for the training of candidate apprentices, apprentices, journeymen and students of vocational and technical education schools and institutions in the workplace; who knows and applies vocational training techniques is called “Master instructor”. Those who have gained the qualification of mastership are given a certificate of master-instructor if they successfully complete the courses on occupational pedagogy to be opened by the Ministry.

Workplace owners or craftsmen who are not trained as master trainers are not allowed to employ apprentices in their workplaces or workplaces. The “Business Pedagogy Course Program” applied in master instructor courses is 40 hours long.

Those who have a certificate of mastery or workplace opening certificate and those who have received vocational education at least at the associate degree level can participate in the business pedagogy course opened by schools and institutions. The business pedagogy course can also be organized through distance education and exams can be held in the form of e-exams. Those who successfully complete the course are given a master teacher certificate. The certificate of master-teaching is used together with a certificate of mastery, a certificate of opening a workplace or at least an associate degree diploma.