Scholarship support for qualified textile engineering kicks off. Ahmet Öksüz, Chairman of the Board of Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (İTHİB), announced that they have started to work for the training of qualified textile engineers for the sector. Expressing to DHA, Öksüz stated that they have taken action to train qualified textile engineers via an action plan prepared to meet the need of qualified labor force of the sector. The plan was prepared with cooperation of Universities,12 exporters unions and Turkey Textile Industry Employers’ Association (TTSİS) by organizing various workshops.
The project was approved by the Ministry of Commerce on April 10. Öksüz noted, “With the signature of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), we will grant scholarships up to the minimum wage during the education period for students that achieved to rank within the first 80,000 in the university exam in case they prefer the textile and leather sector. We will provide a guarantee for five years after the graduation of them.”
During 2018, textile, apparel, carpet and leather sectors achieved approximately $30 billion in exports, while around 1 million people are employed in these sectors. Öksüz stated that they took responsibility to train qualified textile engineers in order to keep up with the age in a more competitive way. They met with the department heads at the universities providing textile education about a year ago. He added;
“Textile engineering departments were preferred at the same point with medical faculties 20 years ago. However, we realized that the preference points decreased and many departments were unable to fill the quotas. We included the private sector and made assessments about what should be done. As a result of the support provided by the Council of Higher Education and the Ministry of Commerce, we took a big step on behalf of our sector. With the protocol signed after nearly one year of preparation, we believe that the interest in textile engineering will increase from this year onwards. ”
What are the requirements for a scholarship like salary?
There are some important criteria for the scholarship up to minimum wage; to be granted to textile and leather engineering students. Accordingly, the ranking of students at the university entrance success is required; to be in the first 80,000 for textile and 100,000 for leather. Plus, one of the first 5 preferences must be specified as textile or sweat engineering. For the continuation of the scholarship; students will be asked to have an average success rate of 2.5 out of 4 each year. After graduation, students will be asked to work at least 5 years in the textile and leather industry.
Scholarship figures for students who choose textile engineering are calculated; Scholarships will be provided for the first 20,000 students up to the minimum wage; 70% of the minimum wage for the first 20,000-50,000 students; and 50% of the minimum wage for the 50,000 to 80,000 students.
The scholarship figures for students who choose leather engineering are; Scholarships equal to the minimum wage for the first 20,000 students; 70% of the minimum wage for the first 20,000-60,000 students; and 50% of the minimum wage for 60,000 to 100,000 students.