Due to the current situation provoked by the Covid-19, the process of digitalization is likely to progress. Junior Achievement Azerbaijan tries to get used to this new trend and make its work much swifter and digitalized.
During the pandemic, JA Azerbaijan has continued the “Youth Empowerment and Leadership” Project and successfully expanded and provided relevant training activities online, targeting the workers of Youth Houses in Binagadi, Khazar, Mingachevir, and Youth Development and Career Centers in Shamkir, Bilasuvar, and Kazakh. Note that the UNICEF initiative project is also implemented with EU sponsorship, and in partnership with UNFPA, Ministry of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Youth Foundation.
The training program held online between April 9 and May 14, 2020, comes in the context of the “Career Planning and Development” and aimed to foster smart career choices by providing career orientation and guidance at an early stage and promoting the development of career planning skills of the youth.
Each Youth Center and Youth Development and Career Center participated in the training program, divided into five phases over the month, and, subsequently, successfully engaged 220 adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years. The youth benefited from the training and obtained valuable guidance based on practical suggestions, theoretical models, and current empirical evidence on enhancing their self-knowledge, including the confidence to explore new career opportunities. The training also provided the youth with a practical description of skills and knowledge development for creating a career plan, and with instructions to help them to make the most of their strengths, talents, and experience.
Moreover, career education helped identify and engage young people, especially the ones at risk of wrong career decision-making. Besides, it was particularly useful to prepare the youth for the transition from learning to World of Work, and it helped identify the youth who were struggling to make a career plan or to continue successfully on their pathway or to find a new one.
In conclusion, Career Planning and Development training was also suitable to help reengage the young generation in distant education and training during the lockdown all over the country.