Under the patronage of Dr. Mhd. Nedal Al Chaar, Minister of Economy and Trade, the Superior Knowledge by Intensive Labor Learning Schemes – SKILLS mini business school of the Syrian Enterprise and Business Centre (SEBC) held for the fourth year a graduation ceremony for its graduated group of SKILLS students  at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus on Monday 19-09-2011.

The ceremony was be attended by Dr. Rateb Al Shallah, President of the Syrian Enterprise and Business Centre in addition to many of businessmen, managers from governmental and private  sectors in Syria.

 SKILLS meets two objectives, facilitates job creation and thereby reduces unemployment and Provides institutions and businesses with skilled employees to enhance their own performance and that of the national economy.
 
This year, /50/ students  will  be graduated From SKILLS, from both programmes “Discover Talents” and “Second Chance”, while /25/ students will be gratuated for the first time from “ SKILLS for Journalism” programme as part of the belief that media plays an important role in development and which clearly indicates how much SKILLS is growing fast as a result of management hard working and strong support of Syrian Government.
 
 SKILLS - Superior Knowledge by Intensive Labour Schemes is an initiative launched by the Syrian SEBC / SME Support Programme in cooperation with the European Training Foundation (ETF) and is an addition rather than an alternative to traditional higher education.
SKILLS aims to provide the business community with professionals who possess extensive business knowledge as well as practical skills through providing the youth with specific knowledge and diversified practical skills to help them perform their jobs efficiently and professionally. SKILLS can thereby contribute to the government's plans to reduce unemployment through the creation of job opportunities.


The SKILLS – journalists initiative is training programme specialized in the journalism sector and aims to build the skills and enhance the level of Syrian journalists specialized in the business and economic sectors in Syria.  The training programme, lasting consecutive 6 months comprehends subjects on economic sciences, jourlist skills in line with the economic development and openness in the aim to provide precise, high quality and continuous economic and business news. The training also includes courses on computer use and the English language.

A sustainable activity, SKILLS Graduates Club “SGC” is in place. SGC is a club to keep gathering and transferring the update know-how to the graduates of SKILLS through different activities locally and to take advantage of the opportunities for cooperation and exchange of experiences with similar international institutions.