Coordinated by the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office and in cooperation with our ministries, affiliated institutions, and voluntary employers from the private sector, the "Internship Mobilization" program, designed for university students, has been featured as a model practice in the OECD report titled "Governance for Youth, Trust and Intergenerational Justice: Fit for all Generations?" The report highlights the program’s success in increasing young people's trust in public institutions, strengthening the relationship between them, and attracting young talents to the public sector.
Doing internships during university education is essential for our students to have a successful higher education process and to gain expertise in their respective fields. However, it has been observed that students are facing difficulties in securing internships this year due to the pandemic. In this context, the project was initiated with the idea that "internships should not hinder graduation," providing senior-year students in full-time undergraduate programs with internship opportunities in public institutions and the private sector. The application evaluations were made by the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office using merit-based and objective methods, considering the candidates' long-term efforts and performances from high school to the senior year of their undergraduate studies.
To date, with the participation of a total of 231 employers from both the public and private sectors, 14,115 students have been offered internships under the project. Of these offers, 4,382 have been accepted by the students. It has been decided by Presidential Decree that this project, successfully continued this year, will be expanded in 2021 to cover all public institutions, with all public sector internship applications to be managed through the National Internship Program.
International Recognition of the National Internship Program
The National Internship Program, in addition to its success within the country, has also received international acclaim. The National Internship Program has been introduced by the OECD as a model practice to other countries as an exemplary initiative of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office, which represents Türkiye on major international platforms and makes significant contributions domestically by providing internship and employment opportunities to our youth,
The Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office has joined the OECD's "Public Governance, Employment, Labor and Social Affairs, and Education Policy Committees" as the representative of Türkiye, with the aim of integrating into international efforts in public governance and employment, exchanging ideas with other countries on technical matters, and promoting Türkiye's successful practices on international platforms. the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office actively participates in the meetings and seminars organized by these Committees, contributing to discussions on policy implementation in this field and providing opinion and suggestions for the research reports and policy documents produced.
In this context, the National Internship Program successfully introduced by Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office, was shown as a model practice for increasing young people's trust in public institutions, strengthening the relationship between them, and attracting young talents to the public sector in the OECD report titled "Governance for Youth, Trust and Intergenerational Justice: Fit for all Generations?"—a report that includes contributions from 49 countries, consisting of 37 member countries, 1 candidate country, 5 partner countries, and 6 non-member countries.
Furthermore, the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Human Resources Office continues to make substantial contributions to the "evidence-based and data-driven policy-making" efforts conducted within the OECD framework, actively participating as a key stakeholder in the relevant sub-committees, and continues to share its expertise and work in this area on these platforms.