“Education is the only means possible for Turkey to become a modern culture, for our secular and democratic republic to move forward, for economic development to become a reality and for human rights to be implemented properly. All my life I have believed that education is one of the most important issues for my country; reaching Atatürk’s target of becoming a contemporary culture can only be accomplished through education. This is the reason why I formed the Foundation and have supported education to the best of my abilities. Our support will always continue.”
Asım Kocabıyık - Borusan Holding Founding President
Asım Kocabıyık, the founding president of Borusan, has always passionately emphasized that if Turkey is to prosper and develop into a modern country the fundamental problem areas of increasing the number of educational facilities and improving the quality of education will have to be urgently addressed. For many years Kocabıyık has supported the cultural and educational development of the country along these lines, both through Borusan financial support as well as personal involvement. The Borusan management felt it would be better to coordinate these social welfare activities under the umbrella of a foundation. Therefore, in 1992 the Asım Kocabıyık Culture and Education Foundation was founded to become an active agent for change in the fields of education, culture and the arts and to support the government of Turkey in these endeavors. In 2008, the Foundation was merged with Borusan Culture and Arts and was renamed the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation.
Support for Education
Ever since it was established in 1992, made possible by donations from the Kocabıyık family and the Borusan Group of companies, one of the Foundation’s priorities with regard to education has been the schools which it built and donated to the government to foster national education. These include:
- The Borusan Asım Kocabıyık Anatolian Vocational High School in the Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul
- The Borusan Otomotiv Zehra Nurhan Kocabıyık Primary School in Avcılar, Istanbul,
- The Borusan Dormitory and the Asım Kocabıyık Technical Vocational College at the Kocaeli University’s Hereke Campus
- The Asım and Nurhan Kocabıyık Teacher’s Residence in Avcılar, Istanbul
- The Asım Kocabıyık Vocational School at Uludağ University’s Gemlik Sunğipek Asım Kocabıyık Vocational Campus
- The offices of the dean and buildings for the Faculty of Law at Gemlik Sunğipek Asım Kocabıyık Campus
Support for Schools
From the beginning, the Foundation has helped meet the practical needs of educational institutions in Turkey. Among the support it has provided is the repair and maintenance of schools, the construction of laboratories, the purchase of books for libraries and support for the purchase of photocopiers and computers. Beyond this, the Foundation has completed such projects as the restoration of the floor of the conservatory at Mimar Sinan University, the construction of the conference hall at the Istanbul High School and the refurbishment of the three-story library building at Istanbul University’s Finance Department.
Scholarships
Since its inception, the Kocabıyık family and the Borusan Group of companies have made donations to the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation so that nonbinding scholarships could be offered to students from disadvantaged families. Currently, 150 students are receiving a scholastic aid from the Foundation. Additionally, a protocol was signed with the Foundation to Support Modern Living (Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği) in conjunction with their “Dad, please send me to school!” campaign, whereby Borusan committed itself to finance the education of one hundred girls over the next three years.
More detailed information about the Foundation’s educational activities can be found at their website at: www.bkv.org.tr
The Avcılar Model Project
In order to improve the quality of education by equipping the parents of students, the Asım Kocabıyık Foundation for Culture and Education started a joint project with the National Education Board of Istanbul’s Avcılar district. The scope of this venture has involved the publication of 30,000 copies of a book entitled “The Education of Parents on Aggressiveness, Violence and Feelings of Guilt among Youth.” Started in the last few months of 2007, this initiative has already reached 18,000 parents through its educational seminars.
Another education project in the Avcılar district, which began around the same time and is expected to be completed in September of 2009, is aimed at helping the teachers of the area schools. To date nine educators from seven different universities have given 144 hours of training in the “Developing Areas of Specialization in Service” seminar. Although participation was on a voluntary basis, a rather large majority of the teachers in the Avcılar District have attended.