DUSHANBE, July 14, 2012, Asia-Plus — The University of Central Asia’s School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE) held its seventh graduation in Tajikistan in Khorog on July 14, press release issued by SPCE said.
The ceremony was attended by Mahmadamin Mahmadaminov, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Tajikistan, Qodir Qosim, Governor of Gorno Badakhshan, Munir Merali, Resident Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKD) in Tajikistan, Abdul Hakim Haidari, General Consul of Afghanistan in Khorog, and Almaz Saifutdinov, Economic and Commercial Adviser, US Embassy in Dushanbe.
SPCE reportedly recognized a total of 215 students at the ceremony. Professional Certificates were awarded in Accounting Technology and Technical Vocational Education. Certificates of Achievements for Cashier / Bookkeeping, English for Academic Purposes, English for Business Levels 2 & 3A, Conversational English, and Training of Guides programs were also awarded. Records of Achievements were presented in Project Appraisal, Conversational Russian, Conversational German, Conversational French and Dari Advanced Level. Letters of Appreciation were awarded to Mathematics and English in the villages’ programs schoolchildren, who took part in the SPCE Olympiads.
For the second consecutive year, SPCE is also graduating Afghan students. This year, the twenty-two Afghan graduates studied basic-level courses at SPCE Khorog under the “Cross Border Vocational Education in Badakhshan” (CVEB) Phase II program, a joint initiative of UCA and the United States Agency for International Development. As part of the CVEB II program, 60 students from Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan were awarded scholarships to study English (Conversational English and English for Academic Purposes), IT (International Computer Driving License and Microsoft Office Specialist), Bookkeeping/Cashier, and Accounting Technology. Courses were delivered in the Dari language and the original curriculum and learning materials in Dari were developed in this respect. The advanced level training programs students of CVEB II are expected to graduate in the late December 2012.
SPCE was launched in October 2006 in Khorog and its Learning Centre was established in January 2008 in Dushanbe. To-date, SPCE has enrolled over 22,000 learners participating in some 120 training courses. In 2010, SPCE opened its Project office in Faizabad, Afghanistan. SPCE also provides capacity building programs for the Shegnan’s Teacher Training College of Afghanistan.
SPCE also promotes and facilitates employment opportunities for its graduates. A recent survey indicates that 74 per cent of SPCE graduates improved on their marketability and earnings after SPCE training. Similarly, in Afghanistan, the initial employment rate was 34 percent. After graduating from SPCE courses, the employment rate increased to 64 percent.
