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Success story: This educator is igniting the spirit of entrepreneurship with HP LIFE
Since 2012, Yazid Missaoui has been teaching in the IT department of the Higher Institute of Technological Studies (ISET) in Beja. Specialized in e-commerce, mobile development and information systems, he also works as a consultant in web development and information systems.
Passionate about IT and entrepreneurship, the 33-year-old is very popular among the ISET’s students and colleagues. To enhance the students’ entrepreneurial mindset he launched the university’s first entrepreneurship club, the HP LIFE Entrepreneurship Club, in December 2017.
Yazid tells us about his first encounter with Mashrou3i, a project financed by USAID, the Italian Cooperation, the HP Foundation and implemented by UNIDO.
“I discovered entrepreneurship and my entrepreneurial spirit when I met the trainers of the project Mashrou3i,” he says. “I was doing entrepreneurship without even realizing it; developing ideas and projects but had never considered myself to be an entrepreneur. So, I wondered, why not become an entrepreneur myself? I started to think about it seriously when I discovered the importance of HP LIFE for entrepreneurs and how it can benefit our educational system.”
Yazid immediately asked if he could organize a Training of Trainers to raise awareness of HP LIFE e-Learning amongst a group of educator colleagues. During October 2017, this training took place in Sousse, sowing the seeds for a stronger entrepreneurial culture within the higher education institution.
“This training completely revolutionized my approach, which was focused more on the technical and pedagogical side of teaching,” he says. “It also gave us new tools and helped foster our entrepreneurial vision.”
Inspired by this new experience, Yazid actively encouraged educators like him to continue the HP LIFE training with their students. Momentum grew with the launch of the HP LIFE Entrepreneurship Club.
Thanks to Mashrou3i, the educators continue to strengthen their skills as HP LIFE Educators. The project has provided further training, including a workshop in March 2018 with Dr. Louis Jacques Filion, a renowned professor and entrepreneurship opinion leader from Canada.
“This extraordinary experience with Louis Jacques Filion pulled us closer to the HP LIFE mindset and opened us up to new perspectives,” Yazid informs us. “It also inspired and empowered us to move forward with the HP LIFE program at the ISET in Beja. Last May, we launched HP LIFE Challenge Days where 60 students develop and hone their business model over two days and the four best teams win a prize.”
A growing number of educators at the institute in Beja are benefiting from Mashrou3i’s HP LIFE training and are applying the program’s business and IT tools in their curricula. Yazid also continues to build on the experience, now helping students to turn their project ideas into a reality through business coaching and technical support. It will help them to come out in a year or two, with a real business project. Watch this space!