Women From Kayseri Will Earn Income Through Technology.

Implemented with the cooperation of the Ministry of National Education Directorate General For Lifelong Learning, Vodafone Turkey Foundation, and Turkish Informatics Foundation, “Women First In Entrepreneurship” project expands its scope by reaching women from Kayseri in the new period. 1200 women from Kayseri have been trained in entrepreneurship and technology by 12 advisors in 7 public education centers as a part of the project, which aims to increase women’s entrepreneurship abilities through communication technologies.

Vodafone Turkey CEO Colman Deegan indicated that Kayseri is the city that taught trade and entrepreneurship to Anatolia, and said, “Entrepreneurship changes with digitalization, as all the other fields do. In this sense, Kayseri holds a great potential as the lifeblood of Turkish economy with its advanced industry, along with its historical and cultural background. We aim to incorporate more women into economy by reaching 20.000 women through our ‘Women First In Entrepreneurship’ project, in which we will offer education to 10.000 women in 10 provinces, including Kayseri, in the new period. We believe that the women in Kayseri will set an example to other women in Anatolia in achieving this goal.”

The training that will take place in Kayseri in the new period of “Women First In Entrepreneurship” project, which is carried out with the cooperation of the Ministry of National Education Directorate General for Lifelong Learning, Vodafone Turkey Foundation, and Turkish Informatics Foundation in an effort to increase women’s presence in social and economic life, has started. 1200 women are being trained in Kayseri by 12 advisors within the scope of the project that aims to increase the entrepreneurship abilities of the women who want to turn their hand made products into income through communication technologies.

Sedat Abdulhakimoğulları: “As women win, poverty will be eradicated, and Turkey will start anew”

The Department Head of Ministry of National Education Directorate General For Lifelong Learning Social Partners and Projects, Sedat Abdulhakimoğulları said:

“The aim of Women First In Entrepreneurship project, which is one of the projects that is coordinated by the Directorate General for Lifelong Learning, is to enable women with limited social and economic opportunities to gain professional competence, join the workforce, and increase their socio-economic possibilities by improving their basic skills through education.

Women take part in production in developed countries that set their aims high. This is what we aim for as the Directorate General for Lifelong Learning. Our target for the new period was 10.000 women in 10 provinces with our 140 advisors from 72 project institutions determined by the public education centers and technical schools under our directorate general. I’m glad to announce that we are already very close to our aim now, in May. In Kayseri, we have reached 1200 women with our 12 advisors from 7 project institutions. I congratulate our managers, deputy managers, and advisors from all project institutions.

With this project, women will have professions; they will produce goods, and contribute to the economy by selling their products on the Internet. The necessary infrastructure for the trainees who complete their trainings to sell their hand made products on the online store of the project, oncekadin.gov.tr, has been completed. We are working on uploading the content on e-learning platform for upcoming project periods in order for more women to benefit from entrepreneurship training through distant learning. The Directorate General for Lifelong Learning is excited to gain women who will be lifelong entrepreneurs. As the Directorate General for Lifelong Learning, we wish women success in their journey.”

Colman Deegan: “We believe that the women in Kayseri will set an example to other women in Anatolia”

Vodafone Turkey CEO, Colman Deegan, indicated that as the lifeblood of Turkish economy, Kayseri holds a great entrepreneurship potential, and said: “We believe that as a city that taught trade and entrepreneurship to Anatolia for ages, Kayseri will pioneer again today in the changing dynamics of digitalization. The biggest sign of this is Kayseri’s Digitization Index score, which is 10 points higher than Turkey average with 63%. We aim to increase this rate by continuing our investments that have exceeded 182 million TL in Kayseri in the last 5 years, and accelerate the digitization of Turkey. One of the most important elements in achieving this goal is of course women, who constitute the half of the population. With our belief that, in the future, a country’s presence in global competition will only be possible through the participation of more women to economy, we aim to incorporate more women into economy with ‘Women First In Entrepreneurship’ project, in which we teach entrepreneurship opportunities that have expanded thanks to digital technology. In this context, we will give entrepreneurship and technology training to 10.000 women in 10 provinces across Turkey this year, including the 1200 women we train in Kayseri in the new period of the project. In this way, 20.000 women will be introduced to entrepreneurship since last year. We are happy to achieve our goal of training 1200 women in Kayseri, and we congratulate them. We believe that the women in Kayseri will set an example to other women in Anatolia in achieving our nationwide goal.”

“We will facilitate the full participation of more women to economy through entrepreneurship”

Deegan reminded that only 20% of the employed population in Kayseri consists of women, and continued: “According to Turkish Statistical Institute data, female employment level in Turkey is around 27,5%. On the other hand, female entrepreneurs constitute 8% of the total number of entrepreneurs. Considering these numbers, we believe that we need more projects that will instill an entrepreneur spirit in women and increase women’s participation in workforce. We aim to raise awareness for and rate of entrepreneurship in women. We have created an economic value over 15 million TL with 10.000 women in the first year of the project. We are getting closer to our aim of training 10.000 women in the second period of the project. Furthermore, more than 7.000 women are already selling their products on oncekadin.gov.tr. We are working hard to give access to more women through the opportunities of digital technology this year. We want to make the entire educational content available for women in the 81 provinces in Turkey, by uploading them on the e-learning platform. That way, we will facilitate the full participation of more women to economy and social life through entrepreneurship.”

Ankara Representative of Turkish Informatics Foundation, Dr. Aydın Kolat, said: “As Turkish Informatics Foundation, we are proud to contribute to Women First In Entrepreneurship project, which aims to encourage female entrepreneurs to enter into such a competitive environment. We thank the Ministry of National Education Directorate General for Lifelong Learning and Vodafone Turkey Foundation for their valuable support. The best part of such a committed project will be to see women contribute to their family budgets by creating, and selling through current technology.”

Practical curricula that have clear, brief content

A practical, 24-hour “technology” and “entrepreneurship” training with a clear, brief content is given in Adana, Denizli, Erzincan, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Mersin, Muğla, Sivas, and Trabzon within the scope of Women First In Entrepreneurship project. Information about the situation of female entrepreneurship in Turkey and in the world, the entrepreneurship model that enables to become an entrepreneur without founding a company, sales, marketing, and communication channels are given in the training that is carried out by 140 advisors in 72 Public Education Centers in 10 provinces. On technology, the participants are informed about the opportunities of information technologies and the Internet, e-commerce and entrepreneurship, how to use the project website, and safe use of technology and the Internet. Participation certificates are presented to those who successfully complete the program.

Applications for Women In Entrepreneurship Competition end in September

Educational content is being uploaded on the Ministry of National Education’s e-learning platform in the new period of the project, and in this way, a lot more women can benefit from the training. Trainees can sell their products on the project’s online store, oncekadin.gov.tr. Besides, in Women First In Entrepreneurship Competition that will be held in November in an effort to encourage the trainees who sign in to the website, successful women will be granted a lifeline fund. Applications for the competition will end on the 30th of September.