10.5 Youth workers
On this page
On this Page
Status in national legislation
- Article 58 “Protection of Youth” of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey
- Decree Law on Organisation and Duties of the Ministry of Youth and Sports
- National Youth and Sports Policy Document
- 1 Presidential Decree regulating the foundation and tasks of the Ministry of Youth and Spor
The main legal document in relation to Youth Work in Turkey was the Decree Law on the Organisation and Duties of the Ministry of Youth and Sports dated 03/06/2011 and youth work in Turkey was regulated in several other documents and legal texts based on this main legal document. However, subsequent to the adoption of new governmental system, the law prescribing the foundation and tasks of Ministry of Youth and Sports which is included in the 1 Presidential Decree replaced the previous law (the Decree Law on the Organisation and Duties of the Ministry of Youth and Sports dated 03/06/2011).
The youth work and youth worker as terms or definitons are not refered to in the above-mentioned legal texts. All the same the notions of youth work and youth worker are represented in these legal texts.
Youth workers as recognized agents of youth work are represented in two modes: Youth and Sports Experts and Youth Leaders. Still, these two legally definite terms does not exhaust the whole field of youth workers in Turkey, so there are many youth workers particularly fucntioning in civil youth sector without being named youth and sports expert nor youth leader.
Education, training and skills recognition
Youth and Sports Expert is a career occupation in youth work and its occupational development is regulated in accordance with “Regulation for Youth and Sports Expertise”. Youth and Sports Experts are employed within the central organisation of the Ministry, not in provinical directorates except secondments.
In the same vein, the employees of the Ministry of Youth and Sports may be sent abroad to have graduate study and increase their knowledge and experience in international organisations according to above-mentioned Bylaw.
The training and education of the youth leaders which numbers over 800 in Turkey are regulated by the Directive by the Ministry of Youth and Sports on Principles and Procedures of Development, Training, and Working of Youth Leaders. In this document, trainings, development and certification of youth leadership are specified in a detailed manner. Apart from the youth workers employed in the Ministry, there are youth workers working in NGOs, however they have not a professional recognition and standart career plan.
Procedures regarding the career and development of Youth Leaders who are the active actors of the youth work in the field are regulated in accordance with the "Directive by the Ministry of Youth and Sports on Principles and Procedures of Development, Training, and Working of Youth Leaders."
Mobility of youth workers
Besides the mobility of youth and sports experts for educational/training purposes and their secondments to the activities of youth work in provinces, the youth work fulfilled by the youth leaders requires much mobility. All projects and activities organised by the Ministry are implemented by active engagement of youth leaders. Even though youth leaders are affiliated to permanent youth centres, continually varying places of youth activities oblige them to travel across Turkey and keep contact with different young groups across Turkey. In this particular, youth camps which take place in different regions of Turkey depending on season of the year requires engagement many youth leaders from cities different than the city in which youth work takes place.
The Adult Education Staff Mobility Project has been implemented through Erasmus accreditation of the Ministry of National Education. Within the scope of the project, two mobility activities were carried out in 2022 by the members of the consortium established under the leadership of the Ministry of National Education. Participants including Youth and Sports Experts received on-the-job training in the field of adult education at CEPA La Mesta institution in Madrid, Spain on September 19-23, 2022. Within the scope of the project, participants from consortium member institutions attended the course about fight against addiction at the San Patrignano institution in Rimini, Italy on October 24-30, 2022.