Turkey Orders Safety Training in Vocational Schools to Be Handed to Certified Specialists
Published on 09/26/2026 at 18:41 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Turkey's education ministry has stripped department heads at vocational schools of the right to deliver workplace safety instruction, issuing a nationwide directive that reserves the task for certified occupational safety professionals.
The change, announced on 16 September 2026, follows a court intervention that had already halted the old arrangement. Turkey's Council of State (Dan??tay), the country's top administrative court, suspended a provision of the ministry's circular dated 2 February 2024 (No. 2024/36) on 8 October 2025. That provision had allowed school principals and department supervisors to conduct safety briefings themselves. The case, filed under docket number E:2025/3032, put a stop to the practice while the court examined it.
With its new instruction, the ministry is bringing its rules into line with the court's position and tightening safety standards before students head into company placements and internships.
Directive Sent to All 81 Provinces
To put the change into effect, the ministry issued communication No. 169325288 on 16 September 2026. The document went out to the administrations of all 81 provinces, part of an effort to apply the same standards across the country.
Under the directive, students must receive instruction from certified specialists before starting any practical work, whether in a company or in a school workshop.
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The aim is to raise the quality of preventive measures. Department supervisors may well have the teaching and technical skills for their particular trade, but the court has now placed the specific expertise required for occupational safety firmly in the hands of dedicated professionals.
Rest of the 2024 Circular Stands
The shift in who delivers safety training leaves most of the legal framework for vocational education untouched. In its 16 September 2026 communication, the ministry made clear that every other provision of the original 2 February 2024 circular remains in force.
What changes, then, is the qualification requirement for the people who carry out the briefings. For schools, that means an organisational adjustment: they will now depend more heavily on cooperation with occupational safety specialists to meet the legal conditions for their students' internships.
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The measure reflects a broader push by the authorities to improve trainee safety in industrial and craft businesses through closer, more specialised instruction.
