On May 9, the final stage of the second season of the “Future Education Leaders of the Pedagogical University” competition was held at the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University (ASPU).

Sponsored by bp Azerbaijan, the competition aims to identify talented students of the university, support their professional development, and contribute to the formation of a future talent pool. Of the 105 students who qualified for the finals after successfully passing the semi-final stage, 102 participated in the final.

Organized in the format of evaluation conferences within teams, the final stage featured various case tasks assessing participants’ skills in communication and teamwork, leadership, social responsibility, effective and strategic thinking, result-orientation, change management, and project management.

Rector of ASPU, Professor Jafar Jafarov, and the university’s guest—Professor Hikmet Koçak, former rector of Atatürk University and currently Vice-Rector of Üsküdar University in Türkiye—wished the participants success, shared their advice, and emphasized that this initiative creates a unique opportunity for students to gain practical leadership experience during their academic journey.

The case challenges were evaluated by a panel of experts, which included ASPU alumni and staff currently working successfully across various sectors. During the project presentation phase, the jury assessed the teams’ project proposals related to educational development, ecology, and digitalization.

The jury consisted of Professor Asaf Zamanov (Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation), Professor Fikrat Rzayev (Vice-Rector for Social and Humanitarian Affairs), Umid Mehdiyev (Advisor to the Rector), Associate Professor Israyil Isgandarov (Director of the Pedagogical College), Turan Karimli (Head of the Department for Event Organization and Student Affairs), and ASPU alumni – Orkhan Jafarov (Head of the Preschool Education Projects Department at the Education Technologies Center of the Institute of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan and instructor of ASPU’s SABAH groups), and Rasim Abdurahmanov (Founder of the “Edumap” education portal).

The winners of the competition are expected to be announced in the coming days.

It should be noted that the competition, held under the slogan “You Can Do It Too!” is open to undergraduate and graduate students of ASPU and its branches. Each of the 10 winners will be awarded a cash prize of 1000 AZN by ASPU, valuable gifts from bp, a one-year professional development program with designated mentors (with certificates awarded upon completion), and the opportunity to be included in the university’s official talent pool. The mentors will be selected from among ASPU leadership and senior representatives of partner organizations.