From 2008 to 2011, the project ran competitions for 10th grade scholarship students with the following themes: “I’m Successful, I’m a Vocational School Student” (2008), “Let’s Shape Our Future” (2009), “The Future of Vocational Education is Your Future!” (2010), “Do You Also Have Ideas About the Future of Vocational Education?” (2011). Scholarship students could enter the competitions with academic essays, presentations or visual designs and the 20 winners were invited to the Koç University campus in Istanbul during the summer for a week-long personalized education and tour program.
As part of the program, which drew attention for its implementation of a "positive discrimination" policy towards female students, 21 Koç Holding companies in different capacities and sectors and over 500 employees volunteered to work with the 8,000 vocational school students from 264 vocational schools.
Once the scholarship targets were met, from 2010 onwards the project entered a new stage, aiming to mobilize different stakeholders by developing a comprehensive model for sharing experiences at corporate, sectoral and national levels. The “Collaboration for Quality in Vocational Education” project began on December 20, 2010, to disseminate the experiences and achievements of the project and improve the quality of vocational training throughout the country. Implemented in partnership with the Education Reform Initiative (ERG), the project aimed to stimulate necessary policy changes through interactive participation. After its completion in 2012, a summary document, “Quality Strategy in Vocational and Technical Education” and much of the research was shared with the public.
In 2011, the Koç Holding companies’ employee volunteer project, “Vocational High School Mentors,” was chosen as Europe's best volunteer program. In the following year, in order to ensure the continuity of the “Vocational Education” program's vision, it was transferred to the Turkish business sector under the leadership of the Private Sector Volunteers Association (ÖSGD). In addition to supporting the vocational personal development of high school students, the program also cultivated the volunteering spirit among employees. From 2012 to 2017, 53 ÖSGD member businesses and about 1,100 volunteers participated in the project, which reached 8,000 students in 101 vocational schools across 14 cities, provided internships to 612 students and employment to 27. In 2013, the film and book Bizim Hikâyemiz (Our Stories) were produced to narrate the story of the Vocational Education: A Crucial Matter for the Nation Project from its beginnings. In the book, all the participating stakeholders, school teachers, students, Koç Holding businesses, and VKV employees present their experiences of the project before and after its implementation.
The Program for Developing School-Business Partnerships that emerged from “Collaboration for Quality in Vocational Education” was implemented from 2015 onwards.