Junior
Achievement uses hands-on experiences to help
young people understand the economics of life. In
partnership with business and educators, Junior
Achievement brings the real world to students, opening
their minds to their potential. Junior Achievement's
unique approach integrates program materials, training,
and support. Junior Achievement is the success bridge
between education and business. JA
Azerbaijan Website JAA Board of
Directors |
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Volunteer of
Semester - Mr Tofik Efendizade, McDermott Caspian
Contractors, Inc. Tofik Efendizade is the
Division Personnel Administrator at McDermott Caspian
Contractors, Inc., with which JAA enjoys productive
cooperation since 2006. Every year the company hosts the
most successful JAA students for the internships and the
employees volunteer for student business training
activities. Tofik started his volunteer experience with
JAA at the beginning of 2009 and since then trained more
than 60 high school students on work-readiness and
business ethics. As Tofik says, Junior Achievement
experience is one of the most important for students, as
it helps them to make mature decisions about their
lives. His latest involvement with JAA took place at
Baku school in December 2009 within the JA Business
Ethics program. Tofik gave a presentation on Ethics of
Life, in which he engaged the students in identifying
personal ethical values and their application at
workplace. The teenagers proved to be active
participants in the discussions that took place
throughout the presentation. They asked many questions
and told related stories from their own experiences. By
far the most interesting subjects for them were
cheating, lying and doing the right things, Tofik says.
Tofik plans to continue working with JAA students to
help prepare youngsters make the transition from
successful students to successful employees. McDermott
Caspian Contractors, Inc. (McDermott) is part of the J.
Ray McDermott group of companies, providing project
management, engineering, procurement, fabrication,
offshore pipelay and marine construction services for
the offshore oil and gas industry. Over the last
seventeen years, McDermott has performed projects for
customers in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and
Turkmenistan. McDermott has offices in Azerbaijan,
Russia, Kazakhstan, and the United Kingdom
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| Programs Reach |
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High Schools 250 Vocational
Schools10 Community Centers14
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| Support JA Azerbaijan |
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INVEST - Make a donation -
Fund specific project, activity, or event
INVOLVE - Teach a class -
Arrange an internship - Mentor students to run a
business
INSPIRE - Take pride in being a
role model |
| Contacts |
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40, Jafar Jabbarli
Str. Caspian Business Center, 7 Floor Baku
AZ1065, Azerbaijan Tel/Fax: (994 12) 436 76 48
Cellular: (994 55) 301 05 05 Website: www.jaazerbaijan.org | |
E-Bulletin - September-December
2009 |
| Azerbaijani Students Ranked 5th
Worldwide in JA-HP Global Business
Challenge |
Five years in a row, the
participants of JA Azerbaijan programs reach the finals
of the JA-HP Global Business Challenge. The
international contest is conducted by JA Worldwide and
HP Corporation annually and involves more than 1,000
teams from 69 nations. During the final round eight
teams make decisions on key factors influencing their
virtual business activity. These decisions are entered
into computer software that generates market position of
each participating team. This year, two teams from
Azerbaijan reached the finals and one ranked 5th and
another 7th in this prestigious international contest.
The 2008/9 competition was supported by Statoil, the
United States Agency for International Development,
Chevron, Baker & McKenzie and the Ministry of
Education in Azerbaijan.
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| 152 Students Participated in
National Management and Economics Competition
Elimination |
JAA launched the 10th Annual
National Management and Economics Competition (NMEC)
among Azerbaijani high school students. The competition
is based on computer software that allows student teams
to act as chief executive officers of virtual
manufacturing companies and compete to earn the highest
performance index. The teams are prompted to make
decisions that affect the profitability and
sustainability of their virtual company and attempt to
outperform their competitors in profit, sales, and
market share. They set prices, determine production
levels, invest in capital, plan marketing and research,
and development budgets. This year 152 students from 23
schools in Baku and five regions participated in the
elimination rounds. 24 students in eight teams advanced
to the competition's finals to be held in Baku in
February 2010. The competition is supported by the
coalition of companies - Statoil, the United States
Agency for International Development, Chevron, Baker
& McKenzie, Bakcell, AmCham, and the Ministry of
Youth and Sports. The contest is conducted in strategic
partnership with the Ministry of Education.

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| High School Students Start Young
Enterprises |
75 students from 15 schools in Baku
and four regions started forming their businesses within
the JA Student Companies project. With the support and
guidance of volunteer consultants from the local
business community, the JA Company Program provides
basic economic education for high school students. By
organizing and operating an actual business enterprise,
students not only learn how businesses function, they
also learn about the structure of the free enterprise
system and the benefits it provides. The program helps
young people appreciate and better understand the role
of business in our society. The participating students
will submit their business ideas and plans to the jury
board in April 2010. The most successful student-teams
will present their businesses in the annual Student
Business Day fair to be held in May. The fair winners
will participate in the JA Job Shadow program, summer
internship in private companies.
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| American Chamber of Commerce
Donates for School Economics Education
Program |
In September 2009, the American
Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham) made a
donation for the School Economics Education Program
(SEE). The funding supports the implementation of the
National Management and Economics Competition for 105
secondary school students, and the JA Job Shadow Program
for 6 students. Within the contest, the student
participants make decisions on price, production,
marketing, capital investment, and research and
development, and simulate "business quarters" using
computer software. The impact of the decisions leads to
the success or failure of each student company. The team
with highest market share and profit wins the
competition. Following the contest, six most successful
students will participate in the summer job shadow
program with leading international companies, where they
will learn about careers at the workplace. The School
Economics Education Program is supported by the
public-private partnership consisting of Statoil, the
United States Agency for International Development,
Chevron, Baker & McKenzie, AmCham, Bakcell, and the
Ministry of Youth and Sports.
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| BP and Its Co-Ventures Help Rural
Students Continue Their
Education |
With the financial support of BP
and its co-ventures and in strategic partnership with
the Ministry of Education and the State Committee on
University Admissions, JAA arranged college admission
preparation courses in the villages of Kurdamir and
Yevlakh regions. According to the state statistics, only
23% of high school graduates from rural areas continue
their education after graduation from secondary schools.
The main reasons for such high drop-out are the students
weak preparation for exams and unrealistic educational
planning. Within the program, JAA provides after-school
training on math, physics, and chemistry, counsels the
students on careers and education opportunities, and
facilitates their participation in state probation
exams. The program has potential capacity of training
120 students and 6 teachers.
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| Bakcell Supported Work-Readiness
Training for 54 College
Students |
Bakcell and JAA started a new
initiative to support the students of technical
universities in Azerbaijan called the Introduction to
Mobile Telecommunications Business (IMTB). During the
first stage of the program, 54 students from four
colleges participated in the work-readiness training by
JAA. By exploring 16 success skills necessary for
employability, the students developed personal
strategies to achieve lifelong learning pursuits and
career opportunities. The team-building exercises tested
their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, as
well as their ability to communicate, negotiate, and
lead. Through engaging activities, the participants
appreciated the importance of personal appearance,
professional demeanor, punctuality, and written and oral
communication. During the next stages of the IMTB
program, the students will participate in series of
training activities on mobile telecommunications,
examine their skills and knowledge through internship at
Bakcell, and participate in the international student
fair in Europe.
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| Chevron Provides Computer Access to
Schools |
Chevron Khazar Ltd. provided a
donation to JAA to create computer access opportunities
in twelve schools in Baku, Ganja, Kurdamir, Yevlakh,
Goranboy, Agdash, and Sumgayit. The schools participate
in JAA national and international youth business
programs and nine of them are located in remote
villages. With the support that Chevron Khazar makes
available for the schools, the students will be able to
access the computer and Internet-based program
supplements that will enhance their JAA programs
experience.
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| Azerbaijani Government Funds JAA
Program |
Azerbaijan Ministry of Youth and
Sports entered the public-private partnership in support
of Junior Achievement programs in Azerbaijan. The
donation made by the Ministry provides funding for the
implementation of the National and International
Management and Economics Competitions. The grant
agreement offers pre-competition training on business
management and the national rounds of contest for 105
students, and the opportunity to participate in the
online international challenge for 15 students. The
program activities will commence in January and complete
in August
2010.
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| Students from 32 Schools Receive
2,500 JA Economics
Textbooks |
JAA donated more than 2,500
textbooks on applied economics to 32 schools. The
donation covered the textbook demand in these schools as
the number of students in 10th and 11th grades grew this
academic year. The textbook and the curriculum, called
JA Economics, substituted an old economic geography
class in the senior grades of these schools according to
the Minister of Education decree. With the support of
SEE program, funded by Statoil, the United States Agency
for International Development, and Chevron, the JA
Economics textbook was translated and adapted from its
original US version and includes theoretical and
practical material on the fundamentals of micro-,
macro-, and international economics, and Azerbaijan's
economy. The recipient schools are located in Baku,
Ganja, Mingechevir, Sumgayit, Lenkaran, and Ismayilli.
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| Rural Students Learned
Entrepreneurship, Work-Readiness, and Trade through
Hands-On Activities |
With the support of BP and its
co-ventures, JAA conducted series of business,
work-readiness, and trade training for 190 students in
villages of Agdash, Yevlakh and Kurdamir. The activities
included: JA Success Skills program that meets the needs
of a diverse group of high school students by providing
engaging, academically enriching, and experiential
learning sessions in work-readiness education and career
perspectives. JA Global Marketplace, which is designed
to provide practical information about the key aspects
of the global economy, what makes world trade work, and
how trade affects students daily lives. JA Student
Companies that provides basic economic education for
high school students. By organizing and operating an
actual business enterprise, students not only learn how
business function, they also learn about the structure
of free enterprise system and the benefits it provides.
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| Elaborating Business Education in
Vocational Schools |
British Council and its partner
companies, Azercell Telecom JV and Microsoft Azerbaijan,
supported JAA to implement the 2010 Skills@Work
Challenge for 240 students in 7 vocational schools.
Skills@Work is a project that promotes internationalism
within the vocational education and training sector
across 18 countries in South East Europe and the UK.
Conducted as a joint initiative between British Council
and Junior Achievement, the Skills@Work Challenge is a
national and international competition to encourage
young people to use their skills in enterprising and
innovative ways, ultimately increasing their
employability and entrepreneurial flair. This year's
competition is held simultaneously in nine countries in
South East Europe and the UK. During the national
competition to be held January 28, the jury panel
consisting of business representatives will evaluate the
students proposed business ideas to solve the assigned
challenge. The winning team will have an opportunity to
participate at the Regional Skills@Work Challenge
competition which will be held in Belgrade, Serbia in
April.
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