TAMEB Turkey

Project period

August 2017 until April 2019

Project management

DGS - LV Berlin Brandenburg e.V.

Funding organisations

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Project description

As part of the German-Turkish Partnership for Vocational Qualification, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and comprises a total of eleven sub-areas, DGS Berlin BRB (DGS) developed course curricula, training materials and practical exercises for the areas of photovoltaics and solar thermal energy and put together the necessary laboratory equipment. The new courses are primarily aimed at male and female migrants from Syria who are living in Turkey. One of the pressing problems faced by these people is unemployment and the difficulty of integrating into the host society. In order to economically stabilise their stay there and their future return to their home country, sequa gGmbH has launched a vocational training programme together with the German Business Membership Organisations (BMO). To ensure the sustainability of these measures, language courses and social integration courses are offered first, followed by further vocational training. The success and placement rate of participants who have already completed courses, for example in the construction industry, is encouraging.

Unemployed or low-skilled Turkish citizens from the host regions are also eligible to participate. This measure ensures that the high number of refugees and the fact that they often remain in the host regions for long periods of time does not lead to social tensions.

Within the overall qualification programme, theoretical and practical training in the field of solar photovoltaics and solar thermal energy is a very interesting sub-project. Turkey, Syria and all neighbouring countries offer very good entry-level opportunities for qualified employees due to their very high levels of solar radiation and, in the case of Turkey, an expanding market for photovoltaics and solar thermal energy.

In this project, the DGS LV Berlin BRB is once again able to work in accordance with its organisation's goal: „Spreading knowledge about solar energy worldwide“. Initially, the train-the-trainer courses with theoretical and practical content developed by DGS LV Berlin BRB were held in Istanbul as one of the two pilot regions. Another ToT course will soon follow in Ankara in order to set up further training centres in vocational and technical schools.

When the trained trainers pass on their knowledge to the target group in subsequent courses, they continue to be supported and supervised by the DGS LV Berlin. This ensures a high level of training quality. To test the knowledge and skills they have learnt, participants take a theoretical and a practical exam at the end of the course. If the exam is passed with the specified number of points, the participants receive a DGS certificate. Both the examination and the certificate follow the guidelines of the Turkish Ministry of Education, so that recognition within Turkey is guaranteed.

Outlook
The trained trainer groups will conduct at least six courses with up to 20 participants in each of the two project regions by 31 March 2019. At the end of the project period, the entire training centres will be transferred to the Turkish project partners, who will continue to run the courses after the project ends. More people of all genders will be trained in this promising technology in order to increase their chances on the labour market, generate their own income and contribute to the development of a sustainable, renewable and clean energy supply in the respective countries.