2^nd Coordination Meeting under ODAP was conducted in İstanbul on 11 and 12 January 2024 with the participation of the Department Heads in the General Directorate of Secondary Education of the Ministry of National Education, relevant staff of the Ministry, vice-principals in the pilot provinces, unit managers, guidance teachers and the teachers in charge of the EWS in the pilot schools.

The meeting was held within the framework of the main goals of ODAP in order to present the progresses made and upcoming Project activities as well as analysing the potential challenges of the implementation phase of the ODAP Integration Model.

The first day of the 2^nd Coordination Meeting, which continued for 2 days and where the recommendations and risk mitigation strategies were discussed with the 50 pilot schools in order to ensure smooth implementation, started with the opening speeches.

Thereafter, ODAP Team Leader informed the participants about the progress made within the scope of the Project. The importance of keeping the School Action Plans updated was emphasised, and participants were informed about the results of the monitoring visits in the field.

The 2^nd Coordination Meeting continued with the presentation of the updated & latest status of the Early Warning System and with the information to the participants about the improvements made on the EWS upon the problems observed in the field.

Then, groupwork stated. The participants came together around the tables according to the provinces they came from and worked on the improvements that should be made on the EWS and provided recommended solutions specific to their provinces.

The first day of the meeting ended after the presentation of the groupwork results and receiving feedback.

The second day of the 2^nd Coordination Meeting focused on “Mentoring Services”. In the first session, where the guidance teachers from the pilot schools participated online, information was provided about how the mentoring services should proceed.

In the second session, information was provided about the Creative Educational Activities to be implemented in the second semester of the academic year. Working groups were established and recommendations on the school fests and Activity Labs Fair and Competition were discussed.

The 2^nd Coordination Meeting ended after the information on the activities to be carried out in the upcoming months was provided, participants received their certificates of participation, and a family photo was taken.

Additionally, the participants received Information Booklet, which was specifically prepared for the 2^nd Coordination Meeting.

The fourth of the Operation Coordination Meetings, where the progress made and the future activities under ODAP are shared with the Project stakeholders, were held in Ankara.

The representatives of the stakeholder institutions and organisations supporting the project, the representatives from the European Union Delegation to Türkiye, Ministry of National Education, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, being the Contracting Authority of the Project, Operation Coordination Unit members as well as the technical assistance Team attended the meeting.

4^th Operation Steering Committee started with the opening speech of the Project Director Mr. Louis Tanguy. Thereafter, the Sector Manager in the European Union Delegation to Türkiye, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Balcı took the floor and requested the participants to share their opinions by stating that a lot of progress had been made so far within the scope of the project. “We will benefit from your experience for the better implementation of the Project” added Prof. Balcı.

Talking on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Mr. Osman Murat Çetin, Department Head in the General Directorate of Foreign Affairs and EU, stated that education was key to the rise of the country and that was why their Ministry attach great importance to conducting projects with the Ministry of National Education.

Then, Ms. Hatice Özdemir, Head of Private Bureau Department in the General Directorate of Secondary Education took the floor and expressed that they aimed to ensure that children come to school with pleasure in order to keep them in the education system. “Türkiye extends along a very large geography; thus, the reasons why children do not come to school vary. We are trying to raise our children for the ‘Century of Türkiye’ with many different projects” said the Department Head Ms. Özdemir.

After the opening speeches, ODAP Team Leader Ms. Cleofe Guardigli provided information related to the activities carried out within the previous 6 months of the Project.  Information on ODAP Integrated Model and Early Warning System was also provided, and planned activities for the next months were shared with the participants.

The meeting ended after the received questions were answered and participants’ feedback was received.

Being one of the activities carried out within the scope of ODAP with a view to preventing early school leaving (ESL), Parent Information Meetings have been implemented in the pilot provinces with the participation of the parents. The series of meetings started first in Şırnak in October. Then, these meetings were later conducted in Ağrı, Ankara, Hakkâri, Sakarya, Şanlıurfa and Çankırı with the participation of the parents of the students studying in the pilot schools. The Information Meetings in the remaining pilot provinces will have been completed by mid-December.

Targeting creating awareness of ODAP Integrated Model among the parents and informing them of the importance of regular school attendance, Parent Information Meetings are conducted as a half-day meeting each including three separate sessions.

In the meetings, where how parental support makes difference on students’ engagement in school and contributes to the academic and social skill improvement of the students is presented, the parents are informed of the available education opportunities.

In the first session of the meeting, the information related to the situation regarding ESL in Türkiye and the importance of putting in place an integrated approach that shall tackle ESL in secondary high school is disseminated and the parents learn about the scope and purposes of prevention’, intervention and compensation model.

In the second session, working groups are created and groups work on proposed solutions with a view to tackling early school leaving. In the last session, the outcomes from each working group are presented to all the participants.

Held at the weekend in order to facilitate the participation of the working parents, the meetings do not only provide up-to-date information to the parents about the activities under ODAP but also allow for disseminating the message on the importance of education. Furthermore, these meetings serve as an important platform to measure the perceptions of the parents on education in general, learn their views on ODAP Integrated Model and Early Warning System, and develop cooperation opportunities.

The third one of the Student and Parent Information Seminar, whose first and second rounds took place in Şırnak and Ankara respectively, was carried out in Şanlıurfa on 10^th November within the scope of ODAP with the participation of the students who have left formal education, and their parents.

The seminar, which was organised to inform students and their parents of the reintegration of the school-leaving students back in the education system and to ensure that these students come back to school, started with the introduction of ODAP Integrated Model. During the seminar, the participants were informed of the measures implemented within the scope of ODAP for the prevention of the student absenteeism and early school leaving and learned about the options for youth within the scope of the education system in Türkiye.

In the seminar, where group work activities took place to increase the motivation of the students for school attendance, the parents were informed of the risks that the early school leaving would cause and the importance of the cooperation between school and families were emphasised.

Information Seminars for Children Leaving Formal Education and Their Parents have been planned to be carried out in a total of 5 provinces. After being organised also in Trabzon and İstanbul, all the seminars will have been completed in December.

Student and Parent Information Seminars, organised within the scope of ODAP, have started.  The first one of the seminars was organised in Şırnak on 18^th October 2023.

The seminar which received participants from Yusuf Cezeri Religious Anatolian High School, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Anatolian High School and Yunus Emre Anatolian High School started with the introduction of ODAP Integrated Model.

The seminar, where the importance of school attendance and education is emphasised for the students who left the education and had difficulty in attending school and their parents, continued with group work activities.

Being carried out in order to inform the students who left their education as well as their parents, these seminars aim to develop cooperation between school and families as well as increasing motivation of the students to attend school.

The second of these seminars will be carried out on 28^th October with the participation of the pilot schools in Ankara.

Information seminars for re-integration of the students who dropped out of the school into education have been ongoing.

The second one of the Student and Parent Information Seminar, the first one of which took place in Şırnak, was carried out in Ankara on 30^th October within the scope of ODAP.

The seminar welcomed both the students having left their schools and their parents, who had previously attended Bağlum Şehit Yakup Çapat Religious Anatolian High School, Battalgazi Vocational and Technical High School, Piri Reis Anatolian High School, 50. Yıl Şehit Uhud Kadir Işık Anatolian High School, Altıağaç Anatolian High School and Akdere Anatolain High School.

In the seminar, which was organised with a view to increasing students’ motivation and developing cooperation with the parents, group work activities took place, as well. While the parents were working on “how to face problems and risks of school refusal and proposed solutions”, the students took part in a “cooperative learning activity with creative educational content”.

With the “Student and Family Information Seminars”, it is aimed to raise awareness among participants about the individual and social goals of education, importance of school attendance, and the need for cooperation between school and families.

The third of the seminars, which will be held in a total of 5 provinces, is planned to be held in Şanlıurfa.

Pilot school visits have started in order to monitor the implementation process of ODAP Integrated Model.

For each pilot province, Provincial School Visit Teams have been established before the visits. Provincial School Visit Teams, which are composed of 2 experts from the TAT, 2 staff members from the Ministry of National Education, and 2 staff members from the Provincial Directorates of National Education, will be in field in order to monitor the implementation processes of the Model in the pilot schools in the provinces as well as providing guidance to the schools.

The first visit was paid to the pilot schools in Şırnak on 19^th-20^th October. Thereafter, one visit was carried out in Çankırı, one in Afyonkarahisar and one in Ağrı, respectively on 24^th-25^th October, 26^th-27^th October, and 30^th-31^st October. It is planned to complete the school visits in the first half of December by carrying out one school visit in Hakkari and Sakarya on 2^nd-3^rd November, one in Şanlıurfa on 7^th,8^th,9^th October 2023, one in Nevşehir, Bingöl, and Trabzon on 23^rd-24^th November, one in Hatay on 30^th November-1^st December, one in İstanbul on 4^th,5^th, 6^th December, one in Ankara on 6^th,7^th, 8^th and one in Tekirdağ on 7^th-8^th December 2023.

At the end of the visits, provincial reports will be prepared, which will include School Monitoring Results for each school. These reports will be used during the preparation of the Final Monitoring Report at the end of piloting stage.

The catch-up classes for the students who have been identified to be at risk as a result of obtaining low points from the readiness level measurement tools and SASAT started.

The catch-up classes, which 30 students attend from each school, will be implemented with a view to supporting the levels of skills of the students in the areas of mathematics, science and reading comprehension.

A total of 32-hour of classes will be provided in science, which consists of 12 hours of physics, 10 hours of chemistry and 10 hours of biology. As for reading comprehension and mathematics, they will also last 32 hours each.

With the catch-up classes, being part of ODAP Integrated Model, it is aimed to prevent early school leaving and increase enrolment rates.

Targeting the students at risk of early school leaving because of low academic achievement, the catch-up classes are provided in line with the ‘Teacher Guides’, which were prepared by the teachers at schools for themselves.

Organised before the piloting stage of the ODAP Integrated Model, to be launched on 2023-2024 School Year, introductory meetings for the principals in 50 pilot schools in 14 Project provinces were completed.

The first one of the meetings, which were conducted online, was held with the principals in the pilot schools in Ankara, Çankırı, Nevşehir, and Afyonkarahisar on 12^th September 2023, separately for each province. In these meetings, where the discussions were held as to how the piloting would be conducted, what was expected from the schools, how the implementation calendar was planned, the Project Manager Didem Elif Bilgili introduced the project management team and the expert team.
Information on the current situation of the project activities was provided for the meeting participants. The Workplan for October – December 2023 was conveyed to the participants. During the brief presentation done by the senior experts of the Project, the participants were informed about the Early Warning System, which is one of the most important components of the Project.

The second of the introductory meetings, which continued uninterrupted for four days, was held on 13^th September 2023 on Wednesday, with the pilot school principals in Bingöl, Ağrı, İstanbul, and Sakarya; the third one was held on 14^th September 2023 on Thursday with the pilot school principals in Tekirdağ, Trabzon, and Şanlıurfa provinces. The last meetings, which were held with the pilot school principals in Hakkâri, Şırnak, and Hatay, were conducted on 15^th September 2023 on Friday.

Before the piloting stage of the ODAP Integrated Model, to be launched on 2023-2024 School Year, introductory meetings for the principals of 50 pilot schools in 14 Project provinces have been started to be held.

The first one of the meetings, which are to be carried out online, will be held with the principals of the pilot schools in Ankara, Çankırı, Nevşehir and Afyonkarahisar on 12^th September 2023, separately for each province.

With these meetings, where ‘how the piloting will be conducted’, ‘what is expected from the schools’, ‘how the implementation calendar is planned’ will be discussed, it is aimed to exchange views with the feedback received from the school principals, and to define the duties and responsibilities of the relevant actors in service provision.

The second of the introductory meetings to continue uninterrupted for four days will be held on 13^th September 2023, Wednesday, with the pilot school principals in Bingöl, Ağrı, İstanbul and Sakarya while the third one will be held on 14^th September 2023, Thursday with the pilot school principals in Tekirdağ, Trabzon and Şanlıurfa provinces. The last meetings, which will be conducted on 15^th September 2023, Friday, will be held with the pilot school principals in Hakkâri, Şırnak and Hatay.