GEBKİM MTAL Counts Down to Welcoming New Students

GEBKİM MTAL, breaking with conventional vocational school thinking, is counting down to meet new students. GEBKİM Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, which succeeded in becoming one of Kocaeli's most preferred schools in its first year, stands out not only through its educational program but also through its social and cultural activities. This project school, brought to Kocaeli by GEBKİM Education, Research and Health Foundation, represents the region's bright future. GEBKİM MTAL becomes parents' choice with the promise of happy students. With its educational program addressing the need for qualified workers in the chemical sector, graduates will not have difficulty finding jobs in the chemical industry. A press conference was held to evaluate the 2019-2020 academic year of GEBKİM Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, which continues its work at full speed with the goal of becoming Turkey's best vocational education provider. The meeting was attended by: Dilovası Mayor Hamza Şayir, Kocaeli Provincial National Education Branch Director Şeref Yüksel Bölükbaşoğlu, GEBKİM Education, Research and Health Foundation Board Chair Vefa İbrahim Aracı, Board Members Zümran Aracı, M. İmer Özer, Eralp Erdem, Sebahattin Işık, Hakan Özhuy, Barış Pakiş and Cem Yelten, GEBKİM Foundation Director Burak Sarıcı, GEBKİM MTAL School Director Hakan Çelik, GEBKİM MTAL teachers and students. The school, supported by GEBKİM Foundation and maintaining educational quality despite the pandemic, was closely tracked by students taking the LGS examination this year.

GEBKİM MTAL, located in Dilovası District of Kocaeli, opened its doors during the 2019-2020 academic year with the slogan "Education in our chemistry" to young people wishing to work in the chemical sector, which has many different subsectors such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, cleaning products, plastics, and packaging.

As a project school, it admitted 120 students based on LGS scores for the first time last year. Additionally, 68 students residing in Dilovası joined GEBKİM MTAL through local placement. GEBKİM Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School will admit 140 students during the 2020-2021 academic year, with 60 based on LGS examination scores and 80 through local placement. GEBKİM MTAL, one of the finest examples of school-industry cooperation, has 20 classrooms and 12 laboratories, including 8 chemistry and 4 industrial automation labs. Alongside quality education, the school invests in social development, providing students with environments for music and sports activities. The school offers students a broad range of activities from theatre and drama to folk dances, guitar and bağlama to painting courses, and sports events such as volleyball, basketball and table tennis, producing strong social individuals for society. Its well-stocked library, established with company support, also contributes to students' development. All students studying at GEBKİM Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School benefit free of charge from school uniforms and meals with support from GEBKİM Foundation. Free shuttle service is provided to students who prefer GEBKİM MTAL based on LGS scores and are from outside Dilovası, and dormitory facilities are available for students from distant areas.

High-achieving students are supported through the GEBKİM Special Scholarship. The school aims not only to help students follow foreign sources related to their fields but also to equip them with the foreign language knowledge they will need when they enter the sector.

For this purpose, GEBKİM MTAL has established an English Street, a feature rarely found even in private schools, and plans to further develop English education in the coming year with new partnerships. GEBKİM MTAL School Director Hakan Çelik, who made a presentation at the meeting, stated that they had an extremely productive academic year despite the pandemic, and said the following: "As GEBKİM Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, during our first academic year as a project school in 2019-2020, we encountered intense interest from students and parents. Based on 2019 LGS scores, our school, which was preferred by students in the 7th to 35th percentile range, became the fourth school in Kocaeli overall to admit students from the highest percentile range. Currently, we have a total of 298 students progressing to grades 10, 11 and 12, of which 155 are female and 143 are male. This year, 140 new students will join our family. We are also opening our Industrial Automation class this year. In the new academic year, with our strengthened teaching staff, we aim to train a workforce that learns while producing in the chemical industry. In addition to providing our students with quality vocational education, we are creating an environment where they can carry out music and sports activities to ensure their social development and strengthen harmony and communication among our students. Koruma Temizlik A.Ş. donated 1,759 books in the first phase for our library with a capacity of 10,000 books. We are presenting one of the finest examples of school-industry cooperation. We place importance on our teachers and students visiting factories located in GEBKİM Chemistry Specialized Industrial Zone and developing joint projects. We also aim to develop our school's vision through European Union projects.

For this purpose, we have applied to many EU projects. Starting from the 2020-2021 academic year, our work in this area will continue."

GEBKİM Education, Research and Health Foundation Board Chair Vefa İbrahim Aracı, noting that they introduced GEBKİM MTAL to educational life to provide a solution to the chemical industry's qualified workforce problem, stated: "This year, due to the pandemic, our students taking the LGS needed more morale and motivation. We trust our youth; they have the strength to adapt to any situation. Our school, providing education in Kocaeli, one of the centers of the chemical industry, stands out not only with quality vocational education but also through social and cultural activities that will make our students useful members of society. We aim to break the negative perception related to vocational schools and train individuals who feel intellectually sufficient.

Following its first academic year as a project school, the most important feedback for us was the satisfaction of our teaching staff and students. This year, the entire world went through a difficult period under the influence of the pandemic. Even during such a period, I thank our teachers who closely monitored our students' education and did not disrupt the educational calendar. Of course, we must also acknowledge our students who maintained focus on their lessons and achieved success. We will begin the 2020-2021 academic year with our strong educational infrastructure, experienced management and teaching staff, social facilities and laboratories, internship and scholarship opportunities. Our Application and Pilot Production Facility, which we plan to put into operation this year, will be another great opportunity for our students in terms of conducting micro-level production and gaining experience. At this point, I thank our GEBKİM Foundation and the GEBKİM Industrial Zone companies that have not spared their support to GEBKİM MTAL."