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Baghdad Business School Sholarship Initiative

Baghdad Business School

Baghdad Business School (BBS) currently offers a one-year program called Business Foundations in English language, Business, and Professional skills to enable Iraqi university graduates to work in the private sector. BBS addresses the skill gap, youth unemployment, and generates human capital for the private sector.

Business Foundations is a one-year, three-tiered curriculum in English, Business, and Professional skills. The curriculum provides both an academic background and practical skills needed for Iraqi university graduates to find entry-level employment or to start their own businesses.

The program is divided into three semesters:

  1. General English
  2. Professional English
  3. Introduction to Business

During the program, the following are integrated into each semester:

  1. Professional and Soft Skills
    Professional or Soft skills give students critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as proactive, engaged attitude and knowledge of workplace etiquette and behavior.
  2. Professional Development Lecture Series
    BBS holds a weekly Professional Development Lecture Series (PDLS), which brings a representative from the private sector to speak to students about their path from education to employment.
     
  3. BBS Mentorship Program (BMP)
    BBS assigns mentors to students to help the students develop CVs and cover letters, practice interviews, connect them with industry contacts and give them general career advice and direction.
  4. BBS Internship Program
    The program coordinates internships, jobs, or further entrepreneurship and business training for students when they graduate.

 

The Business Foundations courses are taught by experienced and motivated lecturers and professors. The English as a Second Language and Business faculties are made up of academics with experience working in the private sector in Iraq and the Middle East. Similarly, Professional Skills instructors have both teaching experience and an understanding of the Iraqi context and needs of Iraqi youth and the private sector.

 

(Visit BBS website to know more.)

Scholarship Initiative

The Mustaqbalna (“Our Future”) Scholarship Initiative seeks to address a major gap in the ability of Iraqi students to study abroad:

  • Iraqi students are not able to obtain many scholarships available to them due to issues such as lack of access, supplemental funding, and difficulty meeting application requirements like visas and English language.
  • Scholarship providers face problems identifying qualified Iraqi students for their programs due to a lack of visibility on the ground and access.
  • There are few to no Iraqi only scholarship programs that offer funding and support to Iraqi students who want to study abroad.

 

Mustaqblna seeks to bridge this gap by partnering with scholarship providers to identify Iraqi students eligible for those programs and by supporting Iraqi youth in their preparations for study abroad. IFHE will provide resources such as databases and workshops to help Iraqi students apply for schools and scholarships, as well as courses in English, academic skill-building, and in some cases, funding.

 

The core of the Mustaqblna scholarship program is to provide Iraqi students with a quality education that enables them to think critically and provides them with the knowledge, skills and ability to succeed as citizens in society, and professionals in the public or private sectors in Iraq.

 

The program will help students based on need and merit, and priority will be given to fields of study that are under-represented in Iraqi universities and which can contribute directly to Iraq’s development: humanities, public policy, business, political science, international relations, and economics.

 

If you are interested in donating or partnering with IFHE’s Mustaqbalna Scholarship Initiative, or in creating a tailored scholarship in your name at an alma mater or particular university, or in a particular field of study, please contact us at support@iraqed.org.

Support IFHE

IFHE seeks financial support for its projects, including the Baghdad Business School and Scholarship Initiative.