As of semester 2020-21, Arkas Bilim ve Sanat Merkezi (Arkas Science and Art Center) has started to provide educational services at the additional building located in the yard of Arkas Narlidere Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School.
Having a vision in education, which is the main area of social responsibility, Arkas Holding keeps working on valuable projects together with new collaborations. Moreover, Arkas continues to manage the schools of “Orion Eğitim Vakfı”, an association serving in education, and “Özel İtalyan Ana ve İlkokulu”, a private Italian kindergarten and elementary school. In 2015, Arkas opened Arkas Narlidere Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School to train intermediate employees with specialized technical knowledge for the Maritime and Logistics sectors. The additional building in the high school yard has started to provide educational services under the name of Arkas BILSEM as of semester 2020-21.
This center served before as Narlidere BILSEM in a building, which was in Narlidere Limanreis Mahallesi and was again devoted by a charitable family, for many years. However, the search for a new building for the center began, as its physical capacity became insufficient. In this context, the additional building, located in the grounds of Arkas Narlidere Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, has started to provide educational services under the name of Arkas BILSEM as of semester 2020-21 with the agreement between Arkas and the Ministry of National Education. In the center, there are still approximately 600 students from the 2nd to 12th grade.
BILSEM centers are private independent educational institutions that are opened to give additional education outside school hours and a room for students to develop their skills, who continue to get formal education and are identified to have a special talent in the areas of general ability (intellectual), visual arts or music.
Students between the 2nd and 12th grade can receive free education in these centers. The grades, from which students will be accepted, are determined by the ministry every year. Students, who are nominated by their form teachers at school, take the annually conducted student selection examination.
There are no conventional practices such as passing a class, getting scores, a report card etc. at BILSEM centers, where more than 130 gifted and talented students study. Instead, the education in these centers is given by means of a process-oriented, project-based learning model.
Arkas BILSEM hit the headlines with its projects all over Turkey
Sixteen laboratories were established within the scope of the project “Özel Yetenek Güçlü Gelecek (Special Talent Strong Future)”, which is supported and about to be completed by the call of the Izmir Development Agency for “Small-Scale Infrastructure Financial Support Program for Social Harmonization”. The equipment and infrastructure, which enable talented students to train with differentiated education programs, were created in the center with this project. Moreover, principals and teachers of 481 schools, affiliated to Arkas BILSEM in 14 provinces, gave awareness trainings about talented children for the families of those children.
Another project was conducted within the TUBITAK 4007 Science Festival Support Program last year. The project “Doğada Çocuk, Teknoloji İle Çocuk (Child in Nature, Child with Technology)” was the only 4007 project accepted among the schools in Izmir. Workshops were held for two days with this project at Narlidere Democracy Square by academicians from 10 different universities in the first week of October.
Within the Erasmus+ program, Arkas BILSEM took part in a KA101 School Education project titled “Geleceği Yakala (Catch the Future)”. Three new Erasmus+ projects were also accepted within the scope of “Strategic Partnerships for School Education activity (KA229 and KA201)”.