Education HUB organized a #RoundTable entitled “Social Entrepreneurship and Vocational Education: Innovative Solutions and Challenges” in cooperation with the State Agency for Vocational Education on November 3, 2023.
Education HUB organized a #RoundTable entitled "Social Entrepreneurship and Vocational Education: Innovative Solutions and Challenges" in cooperation with the State Agency for Vocational Education on November 3, 2023.
The Roundtable took place within “Developing Social Entrepreneurship schemes for VET institutions in Neighbourhood East” project.
The project is implemented jointly with the EaP countries and European countries – Italy, Greece, Austria and Luxembourg. The official consortium partner in Azerbaijan is Education HUB.
Gulnara Ismailova, Program Manager of Education HUB, made an opening speech. During her speech, she gave detailed information about the “Development of Social Entrepreneurship Schemes for Vocational Education Institutes” Program.
Mrs. Ismailova informed participants of the event that a survey will be conducted among vocational education employees, students and interested parties of the labor market in the near future.
Nigar Ismayilzade-Asgarova, deputy head of the Department of Work with Employers and Innovative Projects of the State Agency for Vocational Education, emphasized the importance of establishing a dialogue between Vocational Education Institutions and the private sector, as well as learning new international practices for vocational schools.
Then, speakers Abil Bayramov made presentations on “The current state of the Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Azerbaijan” and Namig Mammadov on “Social entrepreneurship in the context of vocational education, stakeholder analysis and new challenges”.
Participants in the roundtable, comprising representatives from the public and private sectors as well as vocational education, talked about and offered ideas for creating creative solutions to address social issues in vocational education through social entrepreneurship, particularly in the areas of industry and engineering:
“I think the main problem is the lack of awareness about social entrepreneurship. We work with youth as our main target audience. We create conditions for them to get experience in factories and start working. In this way, we support the provision of employment” said Gunel Musayeva, chief human resources specialist of Sumgayit Technology Park.
“If we look at the development of the business sector, social entrepreneurship is new for our country. More support is needed in this area. I would suggest to have this approach more inclusive.” – said Shalala Kamilova, CIPE, Program Manager.
