Preparing youth for a post-pandemic world

Edraak Career Readiness's programme goal is to train 500,000 young people

The Edraak Career Readiness programme is a Massive Open Online Course, offering free and open online courses that aim to boost the employability skills of young people across the MENA region. The programme's goal is to train 500,000 young people with skills not necessarily taught in school or university, but which are critical to getting ahead in the new world of work.

Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, has called on global business leaders to place young people at the centre of the post-Covid-19 economic recovery by supporting initiatives to empower them with new skills and prepare them for the new job market. While millions of jobs have been lost all around the world, young people who are starting their careers bear the heaviest burden from Covid-19 economic impacts as their careers and aspirations are delayed.

Jafar made his comments at the opening day of the World Economic Forum's virtual summit meeting where he was joined with by Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn and Asheesh Advani, President and CEO of JA Worldwide.

Jafar also highlighted the success of the Crescent-sponsored Edraak Career Readiness programme, a three-part online employee preparedness and soft skills course that has seen more than 270,000 young people in the MENA region register to learn English language, basic computer skills, and general office skills. The course was launched at the start of the outbreak of Covid-19 and has continued to receive considerable attention from young people.