Ismailia – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the American University in Cairo (AUC), and Suez Canal University (SCU) celebrated the launch of the Employability and Career Development Center (ECDC), which will help students at SCU increase their chances of landing satisfactory employment upon graduation. Ms. Lisa Franchett, Director of Education and Training Office at USAID in Egypt; AUC President Dr. Lisa Anderson; and SCU President Dr. Mohamed A. Mohamadein participated in the inauguration and ribbon cutting of the new ECDC office at SCU’s Ismailia campus.

“These Centers are envisioned to play an active role in the future of the new Egypt,” said Ms. Franchett.  “They will develop a new generation of graduates who are not only educated to perform technically in their fields, but are also educated to be professionals with the right skills required by today’s job market.

“AUC is proud to be partnering with Suez Canal University to bring their smart, talented and ambitious students the kinds of skills that permit them to enter the labor market with confidence and find suitable jobs,” said Dr. Anderson. “This is a benefit not only for the individual students, but for their families, their employers, and the Egyptian society as a whole.  We are grateful for the support and funding of USAID for this project and for the enthusiasm of our partners at SCU.”

USAID is working in cooperation with AUC to fund four Employability Career Development Centers to be established at three public universities - Ain Shams, Assiut, and Suez Canal. The SCU ECDC is the second to be opened following Assiut University’s ECDC that was opened last March. 

The key goal of this project is to avail career guidance and employability skills to public university students to equip them with the right skills for the world of work. These centers focus on both building the capacity of career guidance professionals and developing a generation of career educated graduates who possess the skills to meet the demands of today’s job market.  To date, more than 200 students at Suez Canal University have completed employability skills training.