On November 13, "Focus Group Discussion" was held with the partner companies of the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU) within the framework of the "UniLab" project.
The online discussion, attended by heads and collaborators of more than 20 public and private enterprises, featured discussion on the key aspects of the relationship between the university and enterprises, the involvement of students and graduates in internships, as well as training of personnel in accordance with labor market requirements.
Opening the conference, ASOIU's Vice-Rector for International Relations, Associate Professor Rafig Jamalov provided information to the participants about the UniLab project and the main directions of the project, emphasized that cooperation with companies is a priority of ASOIU.
Bahruz Nazarov, Director of the Public Relations and Marketing Department of ASOIU noted that the internship programs are necessary in terms of providing information to the universities about the competencies that students should acquire and taking this into account in the educational process.
Ulviya Abbasova, the deputy of ASOIU's Vice-Rector for International Relations, stressed the importance of holding training intensively in cooperation with companies.
Speaking about the cooperation with ASOIU and the requirements of the labor market, the conference participants also touched upon the shortcomings in involving students and graduates to internships and employment in companies.
Expressing their interest in cooperation with ASOIU, the representative of the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Emin Baylarov stressed the importance of working with universities in order to help the students to acquire practical and theoretical skills.
Speaking about the application of modern technologies and shortcomings in this area, Leyla Tagiyeva, a specialist of Azercell's Human Capital Management Department noted the important points for IT development.
Representatives of other companies in their speech also spoke about the importance of developing a plan and working together to improve and develop existing cooperation with universities in the required areas. It was noted that in accordance with the requirements of the current day, companies now require from students and graduates qualification, as well as language skills and IT skills. The issue of changing of some old programs and replacing them with more modern technical knowledge was widely discussed and suggestions were heard.
The conference attendees “Metak” LLC, “Nabucco Architecture and Construction” LLC, “Azer Turk Bank” OJSC, “Pasha Bank” OJSC, “Destec Group”, “Azerenergy” OJSC, “Life Clinic”, “Ders Evi”, “ Baku Steel Company" LLC, "AzeriMed" LLC, "Turan Drilling and Engineering Company", "Bos Shelf " LLC, "Geodesy and Cartography" LLC, "Azerbaijan National Aerospace Agency", "Azerbaijan Railways" CJSC, "Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan" ,“ Azercell ”,“ AzIn Telecom ”LLC,“ BS-Automatic”LLC and other companies noted the importance of “ Dual education ”- that is, instilling of both theoretical and practical skills.
Notably, within the framework of the "Erasmus + KA2" program funded by European Union (EU) ASOIU has joined Unilab project "Market in the 21st Century: A Step Forward in Work-based Placements" on January 1, 2020. The main goal of the UniLab (University - Labor Market) project is to contribute to the modernization of the higher education sector in three partner countries - Azerbaijan, Belarus and Russia
