2025
The third edition doubled the seminar programme and opened the first dedicated scholarship desk, which handled 1,140 enquiries in two days. It was also the year Next Step registered as an SDG Acceleration Action with UN DESA.
Three themes carried the 2025 programme
Funding the decision
Named scholarship programmes with real deadlines, presented by the people who administer them rather than by brochure.
Vocational is not the fallback
Technical institutes given equal floor space to universities, with wage data for each pathway published on the panel.
AI and what to learn now
Employers named the skills they screen on, and where automation is already changing entry-level hiring in the region.
We are not here to inspire anyone. We are here to answer questions.
Two years ago we put nine universities in one hall because a teacher in Chamchamal told us her students were choosing a degree from a photocopied list. This year there are 28 institutions, and the list has been replaced by people who can be asked follow-up questions.
What changed most this year is money. Cost is the first question every parent asks and the last thing anybody publishes clearly. The scholarship desk exists so that a student can find out, in one conversation, whether the programme they want is affordable and what documents they need before the deadline.
We also stopped treating vocational programmes as the consolation prize. A technician who finishes a two-year diploma and earns from the first month is not behind anyone. This year the technical institutes stand in the same hall, the same size of booth.
2025 speakers
Panels & seminars
2025 partners & sponsors
From the 2025 edition
2025 in numbers, verified
Attendance by city and day, session popularity, exit survey results and the SDG indicators reported for the year.