AUCA students have held two-day workshop on Career Exploration and Skill Development for high school students

April 4, 2018

International and Comparative Politics Department at AUCA engages its students, faculty and alumni into various activities to facilitate further professional growth and contribute to the public good of their societies. One of ICP’s initiatives Development Clinic is aimed at engaging students to work on pressing development related issues in Kyrgyzstan. Students develop their own projects, engage with civic organizations to work on specific issues.

During the winter break, two students of International and Comparative Department - Makmal Abylova, Gulkaiir Taiirbekova and Zhannat Abdyraimova from Business Administration department, implemented a project aimed at youth empowerment.

Two-day workshops on Career Exploration and Skill Development were held for high school students in Jalal-Abad, Kurshab (Osh region), Kadamzhai (Batken region).

During the workshops were addressed the issues of youth empowerment, career and study opportunities, motivation and discipline, and community development. The sessions and discussions on leadership and civic engagement enabled the participants to think more about their role in the development of the society they live in. Additionally, the workshops helped high school students to explore a variety of professions, find answers to their questions on future profession and study opportunities (universities, scholarships, resources for self-learning).

Young business professionals and entrepreneurs were also invited to the workshops. Munar Isaev - AUCA alumnus, businessman, CEO of Biy Ordo Hotels in Osh, Azamat Akmatov - co-founder of “Kettik” travel startup and graphic designer, Chyngyz Kulbarakov - young entrepreneur, activist and architect, shared their experiences with workshop participants.

“Zhangazi from Kadamzhai wants to become a successful programmer. Now he is preparing for regional olympiads in Mathematics and Physics, and set a goal to get into Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aida is going to become a doctor and create elephantiasis treatments, which will be affordable for all segments of population. And Hasan from Jalal-Abad already knows programming languages ​​and soon he will start developing new games. And this is only the beginning of the list of students who dream and strive to become the best in different fields! Together with them we talked about the importance of education, self-development, social responsibility, leadership and time-management, explored the educational programs and universities in Kyrgyzstan and abroad. In total 115 students took part in seminars, after the completion of the project we created a network of the participants in social media in order to be in touch, share new knowledge,opportunities and advice with each other. We believe, in the long term the project will bring good results.The project went a lot more different than I and my projectmates expected. We gained a great experience as well. We appreciate the support of ICP Department and Development clinic’s coordinator Farhad Kerimov. We hope the workshops were informative and worthwhile for every participant and everyone involved. " - shared her thoughts Makmal Abylova, project initiator.

Gulkaiir Tairbekova: “I am very thankful to Development Clinic  for providing an opportunity to bring our ideas into reality. In fact,  I was positively surprised how  many talented  and had a pleasure to meet school students, who are very talented and have great potentials. Unfortunately, most of them do not know how to use their potentials in a right way and are not well informed about most of the opportunities in and outside of Kyrgyzstan.  For instance,  one participant impressed me with her talent to improvise poems right at the same time. Great thanks to guest speakers  for sharing personal stories and motivation. Moreover, it was an opportunity to develop problem-solving skills.  Thanks to this project,  I found new people with similar interests who are concentrated in positive changes in our region.”

Zhannat Abdyraimova: “I am an alumna of  New Generation Academy. Now, I am a freshman in BA department. Thanks to the educational activities at AUCA my life became brighter. By conducting seminars on Career Exploration and Skill Development in south regions, I had a chance to share my educational experience. We showed them the ways of getting education in the Top universities of Kyrgyzstan and abroad, to think about the importance of education. Now, I am happy to see how our some participants are using those opportunities. During the seminars, I was convinced again that Kyrgyzstan have many talented leaders, who need just support.

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