Entrepreneurship approach in vocational education to be applied wider
The European Union (EU), UNDP and the State Agency on Vocational Education (SAVE) joined forces to organise the next round of the entrepreneurship trainings for the management and teaching staff of vocational educational institutions (VET) in Azerbaijan.
The two-day online programme was held as part of the “VET for the Future” project and attended by 60 people, including managers of 20 VET institutions, as well as teachers lecturing the entrepreneurship module, and the representatives of the project and the SAVE.
The goal of the training programme on entrepreneurial thinking and practical business skills is to increase the entrepreneurial approach in vocational education and the wider application of relevant business methods. The mentioned programme is implemented as part of the activities aimed at helping VET institutions to apply competitive financing mechanisms to support their innovative initiatives.
The training programme was conducted by Dr. Shahid Qureshi, an international expert with over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship. The programme covered the fundamentals of entrepreneurship including the formation of entrepreneurial thinking, evaluation of available resources in businesses and planning practical solutions. In addition, the participants discussed how to start a business with a limited budget, analysed the startup approach and talked over some successful entrepreneurship examples. Those who successfully completed the programme were awarded a certificate.
Till today, the project has delivered over 12 trainings on promoting entrepreneurship for various target groups, including the pedagogical and management teams of some VET institutions, as well as the graduates of the inclusive course organised by the project. Overall, around 200 participants benefited from this series.
As a continuation of this action, a competition will be held, which requires the innovative ideas of vocational educational institutions and allows the practical application of the knowledge gained in this series of training. 10 VET institutions selected as a result of the competition will receive material and equipment support to implement their innovative initiatives.
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The programme to support promotion of entrepreneurship in vocational education is carried out by the “VET for the future: development of VET providers’ excellence in Azerbaijan” project, funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP with SAVE. The project aims to support the modernisation of VET providers in Azerbaijan and increase the labour market relevance of vocational education.