Under the auspices of Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs and Acting Vice President of the University for Graduate Studies and Research, witnessed the closing activities of the UpSkill program in its second edition, which is held under the umbrella of the Innovation and Training Sector at the university through the ASU Career Center, the Training and Development Center, and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, under the supervision of Prof. Nevin Assem, CEO of the sector, and Dr. Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Director of the ASU Career Center.

The program aims to qualify 1350 students and graduates of Ain Shams University and members of teaching assistants (teaching assistant and assistant lecturer) over a period of 3 months to become effective cadres in the labor market and provide them with career guidance to determine their correct career path in the labor market, in addition to qualifying a number of students with design thinking techniques and entrepreneurship skills and developing the skills of the university’s auxiliary staff members and qualifying them to participate in providing support and guidance to the university’s students in all activities of the innovation and training sector.

In her speech, Prof. Ghada Farouk Ali stressed the university’s interest in these initiatives and training programs due to their effective and clear role in improving the skills of students, graduates and faculty staff in keeping with the needs of the contemporary labor market, and linking university graduates to various opportunities in the labor market, noting that the UpSkill program is an integrated model that includes all the basic elements of the system from students, graduates and teaching assistants and supports young people in all their future choices, whether in employment or entrepreneurship, within the framework of integration between all the sector’s centers.

She praised the efforts made in designing the program and training students, which helps in enhancing self-confidence and gaining life and practical experiences.

Prof. Nevin Assem expressed her happiness with the effective cooperation between the sector centers and the achievements made, including the presence of success partners to finance various events, within the framework of the university's orientations towards building partnerships and alliances that contribute to maximizing the benefit and results.

Dr. Ahmed Abdel Aziz stressed that the program is in line with Egypt's Vision 2030 to qualify young people to assume leadership positions, in addition to bridging the gap between graduates and the labor market, noting that the program relied on four main axes targeting the development of personal skills, helping students discover their abilities, dealing with pressures, enhancing communication and decision-making skills, in addition to career guidance and the use of artificial intelligence. He explained that the program witnessed a wide turnout this year, as more than 4,000 male and female students applied to participate, and 1,350 of them were selected after multiple selection stages. Final-year students and graduates accounted for 63% of the participants, while first-year students represented 37%.

Dr. Ahmed Abdel Aziz also announced the signing of two cooperation agreements within the framework of the program, one between the university and "Life Makers" company and the other between the university and "Intellect" company, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and providing more support to students and graduates.

The closing ceremony was attended by Prof. Salwa Rashad, Dean of the Faculty of Al-Alsun, Prof. Reem Al-Kabariti, Director of the Alumni Association, Prof. Rana Al-Hilali, Director of the Students Disabilities Service Center, and a group of faculty staff and students.