TIEC and the Baghdad Business School (BBS), a new private business college in Iraq, were awarded a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of State. TIEC, through in-house staff, has revised BBS’s English as a Foreign Language curriculum and conducted a six-week training for their faculty on modern teaching methodologies. TIEC has recruited faculty from the University of Texas at Austin to support these efforts.
Iraq’s population is one of the youngest in the world, with one-third between 15 and 29 years of age. Youth unemployment sits at about 36%, but rates for young women are as high as 65%. Many university graduates lack the English language proficiency and business skills needed to obtain jobs in the private sector. To address this skills gap, BBS offers a one-year Business Foundations Program in English language, business, and soft and professional skills that prepares Iraqi youth for work in the private sector. Graduates from its first two cohorts have started their own businesses, found jobs, or advanced their careers in the private sector.
This partnership with TIEC enables BBS to strengthen its internal policies and structures so it can expand its programming to support more students with necessary job skills. TIEC is also enhancing the English language program at BBS by strengthening the curriculum, training teachers in modern pedagogy, and providing access to new language learning tools