— 124 Year Two Business students from Dubai Women's College (DWC) received training from senior managers from Citibank. INJAZ-UAE, organizer of the event, is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world's largest non-profit business education organization. Its purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.
The training in which the DWC students participated was called JA Banks in Action. Through hands-on classroom activities and local competitions, the JA Banks in Action training program teaches students the principles of the banking industry and introduces them to the challenges of successfully operating a bank in a competitive environment.
Dr. Monica Gallant, DWC Business Department Chair said, "Collaborative projects such as this one are important to illustrate to students the relevancy of their education to the work place and to offer the students the chance to showcase their skills to a major potential employer." The participating students showed great enthusiasm to work on the simulation. Latifa Salem Al Jabri agreed and said, "In these three weeks I learnt a lot of things about the banking sector such us how the banks operate, reserve requirement etc. The program is fun and we learn using some activities and games and the global on line simulation."
Sulaf Al-Zu'bi, CEO of INJAZ-UAE, said "Financial literacy skills are important for students in the Emirates as both Abu-Dhabi and Dubai have positioned themselves as business hubs in the region. JA Banks in Action connects people directly involved in the banking industry with students that are studying finance today. It gives them insight into the way financial transactions are made and hopefully will prepare them for their future career choices in the field."
The program was introduced for the first time at DWC as part of the Personal Financial Management course for the students and is an assessed activity. Fahmida Habib, DWC Financial Services Faculty and team leader for the course worked with colleague Dr. Indrani Hazarika, and May Tahboub from INJAZ UAE to bring this valuable learning opportunity to DWC Business Students. Ms. Fahmida said, "Interaction with industry role models is highly motivating for our students. We were fortunate to have 7 senior managers from Citibank UAE volunteer their precious time and work with our students over the 3 weeks."
Mohammed Azab, Executive Director of Citi Private Bank in UAE and one of the volunteers commented, "It was great to be able to share our work experience with DWC students and to offer insights on how banking fits in future career aspirations of young UAE nationals. It was equally very satisfying to see the level of interest and engagement by students who showed remarkable interest in banking. We at Citi are very proud of being the main sponsor of this initiative in the UAE as well as globally."
For over 20 years, DWC has been an HCT flagship institution providing world-class education for women in the UAE. With a mission supported by the ELITE principles: Excellence, Leadership, Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, DWC has been recognized as being at the pinnacle of higher education in UAE.
INJAZ-UAE and its regional partner, INJAZ Al-Arab, mobilize the private sector to help create a new generation of motivated and professional graduates by sending corporate volunteers to classrooms across MENA to train youth in success skills, entrepreneurship and financial literacy — narrowing the gap between students and the world of work. To date, INJAZ-UAE has reached 6,252 students at 15 public schools through 537 volunteers.
