TOWARDS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
PART- III
Findings from entrepreneurship education
The following section attempts to provide a brief overview of the elements of entrepreneurship and/or enterprise education programmes found in the course of the research. There is no one model. Traditions of education, work and enterprise find very uneven expression from community to community, from men to women, and from rural to urban locations. Each education system must find its own route to models of educational delivery that are the most appropriate for meeting contemporary learning needs at secondary level. The elements described here are intended to stimulate thinking around how countries could mark their own course.
Long-term goals and aspirations for students
The stated rationale for entrepreneurship and enterprise education programmes in different countries is often similar, with the emphasis varying according to whether the programme is focusing purely on developing students’ skills to start their own ventures, or a more enterprising attitude to different situations.
On the whole, however, programme rationale is usually viewed as part of a broader development strategy towards:
— developing more creative, innovative approaches to learning, school work and the school community;
— developing in students the self-esteem, confidence, and positive attitudes necessary for consideration of entrepreneurship or self-employment as a viable career option;
— developing in students the attitudes, skills and behaviors to succeed in work-force entry and career progression;
— developing in students the positive attitudes, skills and behaviours needed for integration into the community and participation in its development; and
— developing in students the capacities to positively contribute to the social and environmental sustainability of their communities.
The UN Conference on Environment and Development
(1992, Rio de Janeiro)
The Earth Summit, as it is also called, helped educators around the world realize that education must be oriented to a vision of sustainability that links economic well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the Earth and its resources. The Con-ference produced Agenda 21 in which education was affi rmed as a foundation for sustainable development in Chapter 36. Following the Earth Summit the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) appointed UNESCO to be the Task Manager for this Chapter.
Ten years later, the Plan of Implementation 1 of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg 2002, establishes linkages among poverty alleviation, human rights, peace and security, cultural diversity, biodiversity, food security, clean water and sanitation, renewable energy, preservation of the environment and the sus-tainable use of natural resources.
Guiding pedagogic principles of entrepreneurship education
From the survey of programmes, a number of guiding principles can also be identified. The programmes reflect an underlying belief that:
— circuits of educational success can be created by identifying and tapping into talents and skills of young people at an early age;
— dynamic, flexible and inclusive curriculum underpins students’ life pathways, including employability, personal growth, social participation and the develop-ment of shared values;
— experiential learning, as one of the principle pedagogical pillars, enables par-ticipants to draw on their own life and cultural backgrounds and is more likely make school based learning relevant, applicable, and meaningful;
— promoting real life applications allows students to reach for high levels of achievement, while creating their own solutions for addressing cross-cutting issues improving their environment and community infrastructures;
— education, coupled with guidance and counselling, will enhance the process of shaping a confi dent, responsible, independent, and complete young person;
— role models and mentoring extend students’ aspirations, increase motivation and lower the risk of drop-out;
— teachers and instructors should assume a role of facilitators with students exer-cising increased responsibility for their learning; and
— regular evaluation of the curriculum should be promoted to ensure its capacity to truly connect students to their schooling and their community and to engage them as active, self-directed learners.
Implementation frameworks
International assistance frameworks
One of the key events towards the institutionalization of entrepreneurship education in several developing countries in recent years was the workshop organized by UNESCO in Lusaka, Zambia from 11-14 August 2003. The purpose of the workshop was to start the process of developing training modules in entrepreneur-ship and enterprise education. The workshop is part of a long-term plan to assist a number of countries introduce entrepreneurship education in secondary schools as part of their curriculum reforms.
Participating countries presented papers outlining various entrepreneurship programmes under implementation in their home countries. They noted their successes and failures and presented what they perceived as the main obstacles. The country reports were shared among workshop participants in order to give countries the opportunity to learn from each other. Participants were drawn from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Some of the main outcomes of the workshop were the outline proposals for training modules for General Secondary Educations. The main recommendations include the need to have entrepreneurship education as part of the regular sec-ondary education curriculum and the need for clear policies by various govern-ments in the region on entrepreneurship education and its relevance to poverty reduction.
Cross cultural exchanges
Through a cooperative relationship between two Norwegian Upper secondary schools, Sotra and Eid Upper Secondary Schools in the neighbouring counties of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane; and Mbala High School in northern Zambia, an integrated entre-preneurship education project is being introduced at Mbala High School at secondary level.
All three schools are joined by their mutual interest in learning through the exchange of experiences across cultural, geographic and social boundaries and their belief that, as local actors, they have an obligation to encourage and contribute towards the devel-opment of viable and sound communities through their investment in the relationship between the young population and their local environment. This investment has equal importance both with regard to present and future economic activity and livelihoods, as well as social cohesion and stability.
In Zambia, integrated entrepreneurship education has so far been taught only in further education, but not in primary and upper secondary education. The relevance of introducing the subject in lower grades is apparent given the high levels of unemploy-ment in the country, as well as the large informal economic sector in that region. In Norway, school-integrated entrepreneurship has now been practiced in a number of the country’s secondary schools for several years and these experiences so far indicate that skills are most successfully taught through practical exercises. The idea is that students are supposed to learn through actual realisation of their own business ideas. Under the guidance and surveillance of teachers as well as business mentors, students plan, set up and take responsibility for their own small enterprises.
Against this background, the two Norwegian schools and Mbala High School in Zambia have decided to create a pilot project, intended as a framework for trying out a locally adjusted version of the main elements in the Norwegian model, particularly in terms of pedagogy and training materials, as well as teacher training practices. Through this Pilot Project, the Norwegian schools and teachers will gain further competencies in the teaching of entrepreneurship, given their broadened perspective on how entrepre-neurial ideas work in a different social context. Meanwhile, the Zambian school and its teachers will gain experience and ideas for how school integrated entrepreneurship may be taught in a Zambian context. Meanwhile, it is expected that the Norwegian and Zam-bian students participating in the classes will gain knowledge and skills of each others economic and social structures, as well as opportunities for network building.
One of the most flexible tools already developed by the International Labour Organization is the “Know about Business” (KAB) package.1 It addresses the chal-lenge of youth unemployment highlighted in the Millennium Development Goals and taken up by the Youth Employment Network (YEN).
The general objective is to contribute towards the creation of an enterprise culture in a particular country or society by promoting awareness among young people of the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship and self-employment.
Students come to understand the role of business in the society, its contribution to the wealth of nations and the imperative of social responsibility. They also come to understand their own contribution to shaping their future and that of their country’s economic and social development.
The specific objectives of the KAB package are to:
— Create awareness of enterprises and self-employment as a career option for young people in secondary and vocational education.
— Develop positive attitudes towards enterprises and self-employment.
— Provide knowledge and practice of the desirable attributes for and challenges in starting and operating a successful enterprise.
— Facilitate the school-work transition as a result of a better understanding of functions and operations of enterprises.
The package provides 120 hours of course work for a typical age group of 15-18 year olds. The materials are intended for use by students in secondary education and trainees/students in vocational and technical training institutions whose learning curricula do not include these components. A specific adaptation of KAB has been made for Polytechnics and Universities.
The implementation process starts with a request from national ILO constitu-ents and progresses through the following steps:
— Programme information workshop for representatives of the public and pri-vate training sector;
— Selection of education institutions interested to participate in a pilot phase;
— Training of teachers/trainers with generic KAB materials by ILO certified trainers;
— Adaptation of KAB materials to local social and economic context;
— Pilot testing of KAB in selected institutions during one school year;
— Coaching and exchange of experience among the teachers under the guidance of a KAB trainer;
— Assessment of KAB as entrepreneurship education for the national curriculum;
— Government decision on the introduction of entrepreneurship education at national level;
— Training and certification of local KAB trainers; and
— Assistance to the education sector during the general introduction phase of entrepreneurship education at national level.
What does the KAB Package consist of?
The KAB package is designed to provide teachers and trainers with the material neces-sary for a 120-hour course. It comprises a trainer handbook and nine modules. Each module represents a key area of entrepreneurship and is divided into several topics:
• Module 1: What is Enterprise?
• Module 2: Why Entrepreneurship?
• Module 3: Who are entrepreneurs?
• Module 4: How do I become an entrepreneur?
• Module 5: How do I find a good business idea?
• Module 6: How do I organise an enterprise?
• Module 7: How do I operate an enterprise?
• Module 8: What are the next steps to become an entrepreneur?
• Module 9: How to develop one’s own business plan
As can be seen, the titles of the modules are in the form of questions, which the trainees should be able to answer after the completion of the module. Module 9 is facultative and can be added at the end of the course. Also parts of the package are a workbook for the trainees and a business game, which simulates transactions within an enterprise and among market actors. Teachers and instructors are trained to run a real school business during the one year training cycle. An interactive self-training and resource kit for teachers and trainers on CD-ROM is part of the KAB package.
The implementation of the pilot phase takes in average two years. The second phase of the implementation starts with the government decision to introduce entrepreneurship training as part of the national curricula. The duration of this phase depends entirely from the government’s strategy how fast the subject should be introduced, at which education level and how many education institutions will be covered.
The Training Guide is directed towards teachers and instructors in public and private general secondary education systems, as well as vocational and tech-nical training and higher education institutions. It provides an introduction to the subject and the objectives of KAB, as well as an overview of the course structure, the duration of the modules and topics and an explanation of the training methodology with a variety of teaching techniques.
To date, the package has been integrated into the national curriculum for vocational training in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and is under pilot testing in more than 20 countries in Central Asia, Africa and Latin America, South East Asia and East Europe in vocational, secondary and higher education.
National policy frameworks
In some countries, reforms to technical and vocational education are already famil-iarising students with the concept of entrepreneurship within the national education framework.2 But few countries have created clear and comprehensive policy frame-works to promote entrepreneurship and self-employment within general secondary education. Instead, what we fi nd are models of education and training delivery that seek to connect school-based learning more directly to the world of work, the world of enterprise and community empowerment.
Those countries that have accelerated quicker have done so by situating sec-ondary education reform within broader reforms to promote enterprise, local eco-nomic development, social cohesion and environmental sustainability. This has involved extensive cooperation and coordination between the Ministries of Educa-tion, Ministries of Enterprise, Trade and Industry, Ministries responsible for social welfare and poverty reduction and training providers at the national level. It has also involved cooperation between schools, businesses, Chambers of Commerce and local/regional/national government at the local level.
Australia
The new VET in Schools initiative allows secondary students to take vocational educa-tion courses at school, or with public and private training providers, and combine work with general and vocational education, on a part or full-time basis. Students graduate with full or partial VET qualifi cations and a senior secondary certifi cate that will boost their prospects of finding jobs. They are also able to use the credits so gained towards VET qualifi cation at higher levels.
Enterprise education is a priority area within the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century, endorsed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in 1999. It is also highlighted in the MCEETYA endorsed Framework for Vocational Education in Schools, released during 2001. In 2002, a two-year “Action Research Project in Enterprise Education” was established by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training to assist schools to identify and document innovative approaches to, and best practice in, enterprise education. A total of 194 schools is currently participating in the Project, which ended in March 2004.
Cambodia: Vocational training to alleviate poverty
The ILO’s Vocational Training for the Alleviation of Poverty (VTAP) project has strength-ened the capacity of Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to implement
fl exible, demand-driven training programmes linked to identifi ed income-generating activities. It succeeds the Vocational Training for Employment Generation project that trained over 5,000 people who were returning from Thai border camps or were inter-nally displaced.
In 1996-98, the project provided 75 counterpart staff management and training skills, and trained 3,302 persons belonging to vulnerable groups. Fifty-one per cent were women. Operating in seven provinces, the project set up a network of training centres and mobile training programmes. The project’s success can be attributed to its fl exibility and systematic approach to identifying employment and self-employment opportunities for vulnerable groups, particularly women, the disabled, unemployed youth and demobilized soldiers.
It trained teams that identifi ed individuals’ training needs, promoted gender and equal opportunities, developed curricula and trained instructors. In 1998, the Depart-ment of Technical and Vocational Education and Training took over the project’s activi-ties. Under an Asian Development Bank loan project, the system has been expanded and integrated into Cambodia’s new training system covering 14 provinces.
Indonesian Youth Employment Network (I-YEN)
In 2003, the Government of Indonesia has volunteered to be a lead country in the United Nations Secretary General’s Youth Employment Network (YEN) with the specifi c aim of developing a National Action Plan on Youth Employment.
Indonesia has more than six million unemployed young women and men between the ages of 15 and 29, representing three-quarters of the total unemployed popula-tion. The youth unemployment rate is about 15% in rural and 25% in urban areas. The vast majority of working youth are in the informal economy where they lack adequate income, social protection, security and representation.
At the recommendation of the ILO Offi ce in Jakarta, the Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs established an Indonesian Youth Employment Network (I-YEN). The I-YEN involves senior policy-makers from the Ministries of Economic Affairs, Manpower and Transmigration and Education, as well as prominent representatives from the YEN core partner institutions, workers’ and employers’ organizations, youth and civil society groupings, and the academic community.
Under the direction of the I-YEN steering committee, a National Youth Employment Action Plan for Indonesia (I-YEAP) has been drafted. This draft is currently being shared with a core group of these stakeholders. The draft will support efforts to enhance the quality of education and to improve educational relevance and effi ciency.
Namibia: Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Project
(Education III)
In June 2004, the Namibian Government, with the assistance of a credit from the African Development Bank (ADB), announced its intention to fi nance the Entrepre-neurship and Skills Development Project (Education III). The project falls within the Namibian Government’s national development plan and responds to the objectives of the national education policy.
According to an ADB release, the education project “aims to contribute to the responsiveness of the education system to the skills requirements of the labour market and the production capacity of the economy.”
The loan would be used to finance the establishment of the National Centre for Inno-vation, Entrepreneurship and Technology (CIET) in Tsumeb “with a view to enhancing the framework for innovation, entrepreneurship and technology adaptation.” It was also to help improve the quality and effi ciency of vocational education and training pro-grammes in Namibia.
Thailand: “Think Smart, Act Smart”
This is a collaborative effort of the National Youth Bureau, the Ministry of Education and the Thailand Productivity Institute. These three partners have contributed to the strengthening of enterprising competencies among high school students. The objective is to make the productivity concept more directly meaningful to the students by helping them develop the skills, habits and practices found in highly productive individuals. These included creative and thinking skills, the ability to manage through using proc-esses, measuring progress, and making adjustments, and team work.
Under the slogan, “Start Them Young”, the pilot project adopted an activity-based approach as against one which is classroom-oriented. http://www.google. fr/search?q=cache:wDVbW72EmrsJ:www.cefe.net/datenbank/files/2361/1/ – 11http://www.google.fr/search?q=cache:wDVbW72EmrsJ:www.cefe.net/datenbank/ files/2361/1/ – 11The campaign was piloted in 37 schools in Bangkok and fi ve neigh-bouring provinces. Each participating school had to fulfil three main tasks. One was to set up a “Think Smart, Act Smart” club. Club activities had to be undertaken by the students themselves with the teachers playing an advisory role. The second task was to assign a core team of one teacher and two students to attend a productivity and quality training programme. The same team would later impart what they had learned to others in the school involved in the project. The third task was for each school to undertake a productivity improvement project. Part of the training content included introduction of the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act) method with the attendant skills and tools such as brainstorming, team building, confl ict management, survey methodology, among others.
Partnership arrangements
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Martin Luther King
A common theme is that programmes are often delivered within the framework of partnership agreements at local level, and inter-sectoral collaborative arrangements at both regional and national levels.
At national level, partnerships often take the form of strengthened coopera-tion between Ministries of Education and Industry or Enterprise, national educa-tion and skills training agencies, national enterprise promotion agencies, etc. An example of a successful partnership created at national level is the Ontario Sec-ondary School Business Plan Competition. Here, the Ministry of Economic Devel-opment and Trade (MEDT) and its network of Small Business Enterprise Centres have collaborated with the Ministry of Education to launch local business plan com-petitions for secondary school students in the communities they serve.
At local level, partnership agreements are seen as a way of gaining a clear and substantial commitment from different actors to work together. These partnership agreements are established at either individual school or school cluster level. Part-ners may include regional government, regional education authorities, enterprise promotion agencies, local Chambers of Commerce, the local business community and community-based organizations.
In southern France, the Entreprendre au Lycée framework, coordinated by the Regional Institute for the Creation and Development of Enterprises (IRCE), results from a partnership dialogue between the regional government for Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and the regional education authorities (Academies) of Aix, Marseille and Nice. In Ireland, inter-school competitions are organized by the Young Entre-preneurs Scheme (YES) National Committee in collaboration with the City & County Enterprise Boards throughout the country.
Within partnership frameworks, there are also numerous examples of direct private sector support to secondary education in different settings. Local businesses directly sponsor courses, while local entrepreneurs act as classroom speakers, serve on the advisory boards and curriculum committees of secondary schools, or work placement employers. Private sector firms occasionally supply curriculum guidelines and materials, or subsidise courses, as part of a particular sponsorship programme.
A sense of community partnership is often apparent in rural and regional com-munities, especially those confronted by substantial issues of economic and social change. These partnerships are more informal, with concepts or skills taught by parents who may be local business leaders or by volunteer students on entrepreneur-ship courses at local universities. The involvement of communities tends to lead to interesting innovations geared to the local environment.
Encouraging an entrepreneurial culture: The case of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (FERD)
FERD has recently agreed to support Ungt Entreprenørskap (Young Entrepreneurs), a Norwegian charitable organization that works to give school children and students first-hand experience of setting up companies and value creation.
FERD has agreed to provide annual fi nancial support of NOK 200,000 for three years. In addition, members of the FERD management team will directly support the work of Ungt Entreprenørskap. This includes Ferd’s CEO Johan H. Andresen jr., who has already agreed to address meetings of young entrepreneurs and a course for 200 teachers from secondary schools and colleges. Several members of the Ferd team have acted as judges for young entrepreneur competitions, and a number of their colleagues are keen to play this role in the future.
Ungt Entreprenørskap is organised as a not-for–profi t organization with no polit-ical affiliation, and its objective is to promote an entrepreneurial culture and creativity among school children and students. The organization is supported by a number of leading names in Norwegian business and industry, and its Chairman is Jens Ulltveit-Moe, the President of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry.
“We offer a range of educational concepts for secondary schools and colleges as well as at the university level, but all of these are based on pupils and students set-ting up and running a company,” explains Jarle Tømmerbakke, Director of Ungt Entre-prenørskap. “It really means something to meet a leading business leader face-to-face. It gives the students the chance to meet people they would otherwise only see on the television or in newspapers, and it is a real inspiration to meet someone who is respon-sible for a company’s success”.
Norwegian legislation makes special provision for companies run by young people, and over the last academic year, 1,300 ‘student’ companies were registered with the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises, giving 7,800 school pupils and 100 stu-dents first-hand experience of realising their business ideas.
It was very clear that there was no shortage of ideas and creativity when 1,070 pupils representing 57 student companies met at Hellerud School for a Ungt Entreprenørskap competition in February 2004. The competition covered 10 categories, ranging from the best student company and business idea through to the best corporate logo and best salesperson. Many of the young entrepreneurs present had clearly put in a great deal of effort and commitment, and the results achieved were very impressive.
“This was an extremely valuable experience for the young people involved. It also represents a further step in building a new approach to business and industry. Schools are increasingly keen to welcome involvement from the corporate sector, and compa-nies are also showing much greater interest in playing a role in the education system. This is what Ungt Entreprenørskap wants to encourage in order to foster an entre-preneurial culture and stronger value creation here in Norway”, commented Jarle Tømmerbakke.
Programme focus
The precise focus for entrepreneurship or enterprise education is usually decided by individual schools according to locally identified needs. Some programmes adopt a sectoral focus (e.g. agricultural entrepreneurship, new technologies, e-commerce, environmental sustainability, developing innovative social frameworks). Some pro-grammes also specifically target different population groups, such as minority or indigenous groups, young girls and women, or have a geographic focus, i.e. rural areas or urban slum dwellings.
A broader model has recently evolved around the concept of life skills which encompasses the psycho-social aspects of dealing with issues related to vulnerability and poverty, as well as education for citizenship, community welfare and health. But most interventions try to integrate the natural learning processes and assets of youth living in different circumstances and help them to become self reliant by developing their own simulation projects, sharpening their academic skills, forming positive attitudes about themselves and their communities as well as the skills required in the workplace.
Young people benefi t from teachers’ and a mentor’s knowledge, resources and community connections. They are based on the adoption of appropriate local tech-nologies and are often built around and respectful of existing community social structures and resources. Training providers may include governmental and non-gov-ernmental organizations (NGOs), church groups, small-scale enterprises (including family subsistence groups).
Economic and ecological literacy
Historically, employment creation and shifts in economic growth patterns throughout the world have been negligent of their social and environmental impacts. This is beginning to change. In the areas of entrepreneurship and enter-prise education, certain programmes have evolved in recent years to promote greater awareness of the wider context for enterprise and business, and an understanding
The Plan of Action of the World Summit on Social Development stated that countries should work towards…
“promoting patterns of economic growth that maximise employment creation [with respect to]…. the conservation and management of natural resources, the promotion
of alternative livelihoods in fragile ecosystems and the rehabilitation and regeneration of critically affected and vulnerable areas and natural resources….” (III, 50.i).
among youth of how enterprise impacts on the local environment and community. Complex topics are broken down into their essential components and explained in the most straight-forward terms possible. In many cases, participating students are encouraged to think of ways of getting involved and taking action.
The majority of programmes usually include initial classroom instruction towards some or all of the following elements:
— Awareness of the global, national and local context within which enterprise, trade, industry and consumption patterns operate.
— Contemporary environmental, political and international issues.
— Insight into the role and importance of entrepreneurship and small business creation to local and national economic and social development and the pres-ervation of local heritage.
— Awareness of each localities’ local economic development strategy and indus-trial structure.
— Exploration of entrepreneurship as it relates to a particular sector or industry.
— Knowledge of connections between production, consumption and sustain-ability and the alternatives that are most meaningful in different situations.
International: EcoVentures International (EVI)
This not-for-profit learning provider focuses on moving youth from environmental compliance projects into prevention projects – for example moving from recycling projects to renewable energy.
EVI works to develop the life skills necessary to operate in a sustainably-orientated environment: co-operative decision-making; planning; managing; effective communica-tion; and holistic thinking.
The curriculum facilitates the identifi cation of environmental and social challenges in the local area and leads students through a process in which they find appropriate business solutions. In this way they get not only an appreciation for environmental chal-lenges and appropriate life style and mindset changes, but simultaneously develop their own sustainable livelihood opportunities and entrepreneurial potential.
Entrepreneurship skills
Apart from having an idea, an entrepreneur needs specific skills and knowledge to be able to operate his or her activity on a daily basis. This aspect tends to be ignored by young people. Entrepreneurship is both a science and an art. Science must be learned through training, but managing an enterprise is an art, which could be learned, at least partially, by doing. Those who choose to become self-employed or start a business need to be trained in business management, marketing, fi nancing and accounting, human resources management and informational technologies. They also need to learn the legal and fiscal aspects of business.
Some schools have tried to increase authenticity by focussing on the develop-ment of new businesses that may replace those now economically defunct. Others have formed partnerships with local businesses to ensure that real role models are available to give guidance on aspects of business development and to ensure that learners are developing products that meet commercial quality standards. In other instances, students are guided towards developing social enterprises that create innovative infrastructures for tackling real community issues.
The orientation of entrepreneurship skills training is usually shaped by the individuals’ particular ideas and interests, as well as the local economic context. For example, students in a rural area thinking of going into farming would be exposed to the skills and knowledge for sustained crop production and strategies for the pre-vention of food losses during harvest, storage, marketing and processing. In urban areas, the range of opportunities may be broader.
In many cases, irrespective of the region, country or local environment, many programmes support entrepreneurship skills training within a lifelong learning model.
Programmes usually include some or all of the following elements:
— Entrepreneurial knowledge
• understanding the role of enterprises in a broad and narrow sense;
• the role of enterprises in society;
• typical characteristics and behaviour of entrepreneurs;
• business ethics and standards;
• the general types of decisions and skills necessary for entrepreneurship, self-employment and career path development.
— Starting a business
• identifying opportunities based on market and community needs;
• knowledge of different types of business model (small businesses, corpora-tions, cooperatives, not-for-profits, high-tech enterprises, etc.);
• using appropriate technology;
• estimation of start-up capital;
• identifying sources of capital and alternative financing and securing resources;
• conducting a feasibility study.
— Running a business
• assessing of markets;
• developing a marketing campaign;
REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning)
Enterprise Programme
The REAL Enterprise Programme targets high school students in the rural areas of the USA by linking education with rural economic development. Without alternatives, rural communities are at risk of lacking qualifi ed individuals for vital roles in local communi-ties and economic activities. The initiative assists young people in identifying a business opportunity or utilizing untapped opportunities in the local economy. Classroom activi-ties help them to prepare a business-plan, to initiate their businesses while they are still at school, and later on, to transit them into real enterprises. In doing so, the school sets out to help foster a sense of empowerment and heighten the capacity to be successful and productive community members.
Since 1990, more than 5,000 youth and young adults have received intensive entre-preneurial training within REAL programme. Their school-based enterprise programmes represent an example of how rural school can play a signifi cant role in community eco-nomic development. A survey of 400 REAL graduates (from 1992-1998), conducted in 1998, showed that these businesses had not only survived, but also expanded, reaching a total volume of sales of $6 million and creating 686 new jobs. Another study found that the survival rate of the REAL enterprises after 7 years since their establishment was 91-92 per cent. In the 1999-2000 academic year, NC REAL was serving 64 of North Carolina’s 100 counties through their local schools and community colleges.
Activities are based on the premise that action learning enhanced skills depends on active student participation and decision-making. Students conduct a community survey to identify needs that could lead to entrepreneurial ventures. Once these are identifi ed, business plans are developed, funds are secured and a business site is established, thus providing students the opportunity to learn the concepts and respon-sibilities of managing/owning a business. REAL businesses then “spin off” from the school and are independently owned and managed by students who have participated in the REAL Enterprise Programme and have graduated from school. Examples of REAL Enterprise student ventures initiated range from a day care centre to a training booth/ exercise centre.
The successful experience of the REAL programme was replicated in other rural areas of America, and its business-incubator approach has been tested in urban areas as well. The attractiveness of this approach lies in its effectiveness to match the local supply of skills with the local demand for skills as close as possible, but also to provide young people with appropriate skills for self-employment. In the urban settings, the focus has been on youth in- and outside school, dropouts and other disadvantaged youth.
• management and business skills;
• legal implications of self-employment and enterprise creation (unemploy-ment insurance, health cover, and pensions);
• aspects of communication and presentation;
• developing a business plan to include various components such as fi nancing and marketing using fi nancial statements; and
• Identifying and using support services available from the public and private sector.
Finally, it is important that would-be-entrepreneurs become familiar not only with the potential benefits, but also with possible risks entrepreneurs have to face and about the tradeoffs they have to make. Apparently, the biggest risk entrepreneurs usually face is, not at the initial stage of starting up their businesses but rather later, after the business established itself and has to be developed further. This aspect needs to be taken into consideration not only by would-be-entrepreneurs, but also by organizations, which provide services for young entrepreneurs. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has developed a guide to help start-ups and advanced entrepreneurs to understand and cope with business risks.3
Social entrepreneurship skills
Another focus of entrepreneurship programmes may be encouraging the students to develop projects that directly tackle community issues, e.g. food security, ensuring clean water supply, running HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns, environmental pro-tection, organizing outreach campaigns, participate in the upgrading of their neigh-bourhoods, joining networks with community leaders.
The meaning of “Social Entrepreneurship” was developed by J. Gregory Dees (professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business). He states: “For social entre-preneurs, the social mission is explicit and central. This obviously affects how social entrepreneurs perceive and assess opportunities. Mission-related impact becomes the central criterion, not wealth creation. Wealth is just a means to an end. Social entrepreneurs operate in markets, but these markets do not provide the right disci-pline. In particular markets do not do a good job in valuing social improvements, public goods and harms and benefits for people who cannot afford to pay. These elements are often essential to social entrepreneurship.” J. Gregory Dees gives a defi nition of social entrepreneurs (with reference to Say, Schumpeter, Drucker and Stevenson) as follows:
Social entrepreneurs play the role of change agents in the social sector by:
– Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value ( not just private value);
– Recognizing and relentless pursuing new opportunities to serve the mission;
– Engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning;
– Acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand; and
– Exhibiting heightened accountability to the constituencies served and for the out-comes created.
Employability Skills
Programmes usually include some or all of the following elements:
— Awareness of required pre-employment skills;
— Developing skills such as communication, numeracy, problem solving, using ICT and working with others;
Arab States: Economic Education and Job Skills Training
Within the framework of the Global Development Alliance, Junior Achievement Interna-tional (JAI) has partnered with Exxon Mobil Corporation, Citigroup, MEPI, USAID, INJAZ Jordan and other private sector companies throughout the Middle East and North Africa to develop seven self-sustaining Junior Achievement organizations in the Middle East.
Through a $1,000,000 grant, 98,240 secondary school students and youth in Bah-rain, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar (West Bank or Tunisia or Morocco), and United Arab Emirates will complete at least one of twenty Junior Achievement programmes to gain a fundamental understanding of business, economics and entrepreneurship.
In Jordan, INJAZ is a national initiative launched in 2003 with funding from Save the Children/USA. With 62 per cent of Jordan’s population below 25 years of age, and 25 per cent between the ages of 14 and 24, it was felt that a programme framework should be developed to promote economic opportunities for Jordanian youth.
INJAZ will foster entrepreneurship and workforce preparation for 14 to 24 year olds. The programme was launched in Amman schools and in economically disadvantaged regions of the country. Approximately 220 youth in Amman have benefi ted from the programme in 2004.
The curriculum focuses on personal and business economics, entrepreneurship, leadership and community service courses that serve to foster creative thinking and critical problem solving among the learners.
With the cooperation of the Ministry of Education, vocational training centres and volunteers, the programme has extended its operations last year from Amman to Maan and Zarka, to be followed in the near future by Irbid, Karak and Aqaba.
— Developing team-building skills by working cooperatively with others (inde-pendent and group research, working with people of different backgrounds and ages, and with different points of view, sharing ideas, investigating sources, peer mentoring); and
— Using Internet and CD-ROMs for research.
Economic and social integration and life skills
Both entrepreneurship and enterprise education usually try to develop a solid skills foundation so that students have the creative capacities and confidence to express themselves, apply the knowledge they have learned and generate their own opportu-nities throughout their lives. Students also learn how to cooperate with one another and to make sound value judgements.
Examples can be found in the programmes of where learning activities are used as a vehicle to nurture talents in areas such as public speaking, independent thinking, research and technological competencies, as well as fostering forms of cultural expression such as dance, art, drama and video production.
Programmes usually include some or all of the following elements:
— Learning how to put one’s ideas, talents and creativity into action and take calculated risks;
— Applying enquiry, reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving and analytical skills to different situations;
Scotland: Life Skills Through Enterprise
Glencryan School in North Lanarkshire reaches 175 pupils aged 3 to 18 years with moderate learning diffi culties and/or emotional and behavioural problems. An extensive programme of education-business links, enterprise activities, work experience, careers education and supported employment has been carefully designed according to the age and needs of the pupils.
In the senior school, a major focus is on a Life Skills Unit which concentrates on core skills developed by a core teacher and subject specialists. Skills and subjects such as English, maths, science, languages and expressive arts are delivered through an “enterprise in education” approach. Running a company and other enterprise activities allows students to be independent – by taking responsibility for decision-making and problem solving – and also to work with others. Work experience in S4-S6 relies on matching opportunities from local employers to the specifi c skills, attributes and needs of the young people.
The programme has shown that through varied experiences, careers can develop a comprehensive action plan for pupils.
Argentina: The Educational Opportunity Project
The Educational Opportunity Project is an initiative of COINED, the Argentine inter-cultural exchange student organization, better known in Spanish as the “Comisión de Intercambio Educativo”.
This project promotes education at a local level for Argentine secondary school students with a high academic achievement but low economic status. It originated in Cordoba at IPEM 18 school, in a neighbourhood called Granjas de Funes, where most students’ families lack the basic economic resources to encourage their children to complete their education.
In order to stimulate enterprising and proactive behaviours and attitudes among the students, COINED provides them with scholarships and the proper tools to carry out a small entrepreneurship project, through which they create and elaborate products to be sold in the market.
With the professional assistance of the Psycho-pedagogic Department of the Institu-tion, students with the right motivation are awarded scholarships. In 2004, the project had 11 scholars, and the number of applicants is increasing year on year.
As part of the project framework, students are provided with a free uniform. A nutri-tionist also advises the school on dietary needs so that the students are well nourished. Funds also cover medical services, including blood tests, dentological checking, and medical supply.
As part of a longer term vision, the school has also introduced a vocational guidance and counselling system, as well as advice on post secondary pathways and further education registration procedures.
— Developing decision-making responsibility in a wide range of areas;
— Absorbing the values and attitudinal changes needed to be respectful of, and better manage resources in their lives and in their communities.
Curriculum connections
Schools vary in how they introduce entrepreneurship or enterprise education. For some, it has meant approaching a subject or curricula topic from a new angle or with different tools in order to convey meaning and enhance learning. Others have introduced entrepreneurship as a new subject altogether.
On the whole, connections to the curriculum take place in a number of ways, including:
— the introduction of entrepreneurship or enterprise education as a specific sub-ject in the formal curriculum;
— the re-orientation of different subjects so that they incorporate an enterprising flavour;
— as an extra-curricular activity, for example as a fund-raising initiative;
— the convergence of a range of subjects under the “umbrella” of enterprise edu-cation, with expectations that students will develop enterprising relationships
Malaysia: Invention Curriculum Project
This curriculum is designed to stimulate students who are creative, innovative, inventive, capable of adapting themselves to and participating in current technological changes and development through creating inventions that help to overcome certain identifi ed problems. They also master a variety of technical skills, including use of computer-aided design software. Students’ individual products and folio presentation of their work serve as an evaluation of their learning.
Overall, the project enables students to:
i) be creative in their thinking, innovative and inventive;
ii) be capable of creating an invention that is benefi cial to the nation;
iii) be sensitive to the surrounding problems and current technology;
iv) be interested in the fi eld of entrepreneurship and practise the characteristics of entrepreneurs;
v) become moral individuals.
The new inventive curriculum is designed as part of the Living Skills subject which is compulsory for all primary and lower secondary students in Malaysia. At the upper secondary level, invention is offered as a technology elective subject.
The Curriculum Development Centre trains resource teachers at the national level and these in turn conduct courses for other teachers at the state level. Enrichment courses are also provided from time to time to consolidate and further upgrade the skills of teachers. These courses are also attended by offi cers from the various Education Divisions and State Education Departments.
In addition to teacher orientation programmes, curriculum and supporting materials have been developed with the assistance of personnel with expertise in specifi c fi elds. These personnel include staff from universities and relevant organizations as well as experienced teachers. To support the curriculum project at the upper secondary level, a launching grant is provided during the first year of implementation for the purchase of materials and equipment. In addition, an annual per-capita grant is provided.
Fourteen schools have been selected throughout Malaysia for a pilot trial in 1995. Since 1996, the project has expanded to all primary and lower secondary schools and to 160 upper secondary schools.
In order to achieve greater relevancy or to strengthen learning, attachment pro-grammes of students to local industries are being developed between the private and government sectors. Students will then be exposed to current technological concepts and practices, real problem-solving situations and realistic entrepreneurial practices.
between themselves in the different classes. This may involve cooperation between technology, art and literacy classes in a shared project;
— the development of entrepreneurship or enterprise education through a “pathway approach”, such as courses based on a learning project that may con-tinue from the junior to the senior years of high school, perhaps incorporating VET competencies and enterprising opportunities; and
— the development of a whole-school enterprising focus that then acts as the centre-point for the development and implementation of the curriculum across different learning areas.
Some schools have moved past the curriculum to change the way they relate to students, providing all students with opportunities to make decisions about their learning and apply it in the real world.
Instructional approaches
The research found no universal model of entrepreneurship education, but many programmes have proven successful because they offer flexible delivery methods that take into account students’ preferred learning styles. The manner in which the stu-dents are required to respond to the teacher and/or to the instructional approach is also flexible. In many projects, responses may be expected orally, visually, graphi-cally, or in written format.
Other similarities exist between programmes. Many schools adopt a class-room-based approach, with entrepreneurship and enterprise education integrated across the curriculum or as an optional subject. In other cases, multiple sites are employed with programmes offered as an after-school activity such as an after-school club, or even summer camps and weekend workshops.
Nearly all programmes are guided by the principles of action and experiential learning and suggest, to varying degrees, that the key to promoting entrepreneurial initiative is engaging learners as active generators of knowledge, rather than passive receivers. They are encouraged to explore for themselves the link between entrepre-neurship theory and practice through structured exercises, diagnostic tools, peer networking, self-help groups and mentoring. In the case of entrepreneurship educa-tion, they also begin to understand real-world applications by applying their knowl-edge in the development of their own business ideas and through participation in competitive events and networks.
Some entrepreneurship programmes also address the psycho-social aspects of dealing with life challenges, vulnerability and poverty. This dimension of
France: Entreprendre au Lycée
Launched in 1991 through cooperation between the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional governments, in partnership with the regional education authorities (Acad-emies) of Aix-Marseille and Nice, Entreprendre au lycée is coordinated by the Regional Institute for the Creation and Development of Enterprises (IRCE), in partnership with the two regional education authorities.
Entreprendre au lycée is a pedagogical tool based around the methodology of cre-ating an enterprise. It works towards developing the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed in today’s socio-economic climate through a real world application linked to professional career options. It allows secondary school students to develop compe-tencies and behaviours linked to innovation, creativity and organization favourable to labour market entry.
Enterprises created by the students must be registered either as not-for-profi t asso-ciations, or be attached to the socio-educational structure of the college. The profi ts are limited in order not to create a competitive disjuncture with the local economy. The pedagogical team, made up of 2-4 teachers, accompanies the young entrepreneurs in their relationships with enterprise partners (clients, suppliers, bankers, account-ants and administrators) in order to confront real economic situations. In turn, these partners are asked to provide their experience and advice to the young entrepreneurs and members of the pedagogical team and to help them expanding their support networks.
entrepreneurship education has been important in at-risk communities where there may be problems that adults have identified as issues, but students have not. Here, the students work out solutions for themselves.
In projects such as Entreprendre au lycée in France and the Youth Enterprise Society (YES) Programme in South Africa, teachers and students are supported in their entrepreneurship activities by pedagogical teams established either in the locality between different partners or at the school level.
Classroom activities
Teachers engage in direct instruction to convey the central concepts and princi-ples of economic and ecological literacy, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneur-ship and preparation for work and society. Through direct instruction and group discussions, teachers challenge assumptions, expectations and values. Classroom activities may also involve detailed project work on an operational or organiza-tional problem of the community or a small enterprise with students required to submit a project report. This gives them an opportunity to apply the theories, concepts, tools and techniques they have learnt and develop their written and oral communication skills.
South Africa: Youth Enterprise Society (YES) Programme
The YES Programme’s mission is to help young South Africans become business crea-tors rather than simply job seekers. Honed during a three year pilot programme con-ducted in the north-eastern Free State, YES is a multiracial school programme based on “learning by doing” for grade 9 (std 7), grade 10 (std 8) and grade 11 (std 9) pupils.
The programme involves whole communities, including local business people, trade union representatives, educationalists and other community members, and is designed to create awareness and interest in free-market entrepreneurship as a career option amongst young people. After meeting certain requirements, interested parties form a “Local Part-nership” (LP) which then initiates YES Societies at one or more schools in their area.
Students are invited by their peers to join and each YES Society involves three to six specially trained teachers who act as YES Advisors and 45 students, broken down into three teams:
• 15 grade 9 (standard 7), entitled “Pioneers”
• 15 grade 10 (standard 8), entitled “Champions”
• 15 grade 11 (standard 9), entitled “YES Entrepreneurs”
Society leadership is with the youth who select their own office bearers and run their own affairs. Teachers act purely as facilitators and a link to the Local Partnership (LP), whose members judge and evaluate the students’ progress. Campaigning by the students is usually their fi rst exposure to mass motivation and is in itself a good learning experi-ence, resulting in an executive committee comprising: President, Vice-President, Secre-tary, Treasurer, Public relations Offi cer, Constitutional Adviser and Team Chairpersons.
Throughout the three year programme, YES members focus on developing skills in the 17 entrepreneurial competencies, with the content of each becoming broader and more complex with each passing year.
The 3 day Annual National Competitive YES Conference celebrates those YES par-ticipants who have excelled during the course of the school year; it gives them the opportunity to compete against each other nationally. For a student to make it to the conference, he must not only excel in his own society, but also within his full LP area, his region and finally gain selection to represent his province.
Business simulation activities
The aim of business simulation and practice enterprises is to put students in the situ-ation of an entrepreneur and make them aware of the reactions, the styles of com-munication and management that are used in small businesses. This is a pedagogical method for giving entrepreneurship both form and content.
When students work together in a practice enterprise, they become responsible for the enterprise’s success, which gives them a stake in the learning process, as well as securing their commitment and participation. Since there are a wide variety of prob-lems to be solved, all participants must equally contribute to the final result. This pro-motes the notion of cooperation and interdependence. The projects also provide an opportunity to apply maths, science, technology, and language in a real-world context.
Nigeria: Owerri Digital Village
Since September 2003, the Owerri Digital Village (ODV), supported by the Youth for Technology Foundation in Nigeria, has been opened as part of a Global Education Tele-Community Initiative (GEI). GEI is a joint venture of international grassroots public schools, community technology and learning centres, science museums, universities and leading international businesses to achieve education reform. GEI itself receives support from the EDS Foundation, EDS Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and iLinc.
By interfacing innovative K-12 (elementary and secondary school) science, math, engineering and technology programmes with civics, government and economics, the GEI shows at risk youth the connections between classroom curricula and their appli-cations to real-world projects, while inculcating the organizational skills, discipline, self-confidence, and multicultural awareness and understanding needed for success in today’s global economy.
Young people work collaboratively on real-world science and engineering projects, in partnership with local and international engineering fi rms. Learning occurs during school hours and in extended learning communities after school. Education HUBs in different countries are connected with one another, and with leading international sci-entists, engineers, educators, business executives, and civil leaders for training and collaboration.
The Owerri Digital Village ran a pilot programme from November 2003 to May 2004. During this time, 15 young participants, aged 12 to 16, worked collaboratively, devel-oping a business plan focusing on water purifi cation in their communities. ODV partici-pants also worked with their global peers. The programme was designed in such a way that the youth were virtual business owners of an engineering fi rm hired to research, investigate and report on water conditions confronting them in the 21st century.
The young participants gained computer skills (Word, PowerPoint and Excel), online research skills, business entrepreneurship skills and developed a solid understanding of the water purifi cation process (water contaminants, water treatment cycle). The youth also improved their written and verbal communication skills as a result of collaborative efforts each week with other youth and educators using LearnLinc, the distance learning software application that forms the backbone of the GEI web-collaboration network.
In September 2004, the full programme was launched at the Owerri Digital Village. Fifty youth participated and the focus of the six month programme was on science and prevention of communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
Participation in special events
Many national Ministries of Education, in association with business and other partners, sponsor national awards schemes recognizing and promoting excellence in entrepre-neurship education and promoting their impact to parents and the wider community.
Role models and mentors
Mentors from the business and not-for-profit community provide advice on tech-nical, fi nancing, marketing, legal, insurance and a host of other issues. Mentors also
Bahrain: Al-Hekma International School
Fifty-six students of Al Hekma International School (AHIS) were awarded by Mr. Abdul Raheem Al Saeedi, Head of Commerce and Company Affairs at the Ministry of Com-merce, for organizing a unique car show in 2004.
The award ceremony, held under the patronage of his Excellency the Minister of Commerce, Ali Saleh Al Saleh, was part of an educational programme designed to pro-vide students with the opportunity to learn and experience the fundamentals of starting and managing a real business enterprise. The programme has enabled these students to put into practise the business theories they learned in the course of an entrepreneur-ship programme launched at their high school in 2001. Around 80 students appearing for the American Diploma were involved in setting up the Car Show.
Canada: Enterprise Olympics
Enterprise Olympics is a yearly competition celebrating the best student entrepreneur-ship activities in Newfoundland secondary schools. The competition consists of a show-case and business plan competition. Students in each school district participate in regional showcases to determine those that will go forward to attend the Enterprise Olympics competition. The showcase provides an opportunity to celebrate the achieve-ments of regional winners, who share $10 000 prize money between them.
The Enterprise Olympics “Teacher’s Guide”, which is distributed to participating schools, includes goals and objectives, rules and regulations, tips for developing successful student projects and presentations, judging rubrics, and a host of other material that will help participants who may want to set up a similar competition in their own state or province.
Ireland: Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES)
The Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Scheme aims to stimulate enterprise and innovative activity amongst young people. For several years, the Scheme has been encouraging and assisting the organization of YES within secondary schools nationwide. Students, either individually or in groups (up to 5 students), create and operate their own real mini-busi-nesses. These businesses sell products or services to students, or outside the school.
The specifi c objectives of YES are:
• to assist the development of entrepreneurial skills, self-confi dence and self-reliance;
• to help create an enterprise culture and stimulate entrepreneurial activity; and
• to help young people respond to the changing employment situation by encouraging initiative.
YES is organized by the Young Entrepreneurs Association, which is an informal group of parents and teachers, working on a voluntary basis. It coordinates the overall Pro-gramme; provides extensive support to local organizers; and arranges Regional and National Competitions. The fi rst YES was established in 1991. Since then, it has expanded very rapidly throughout Ireland and over 50,000 students have participated. In 2000, 8,000 students from 271 schools took part in the programme.
provide individual counselling, business skill training and education. Small business owners, as well as executives from large companies, volunteer time to perform one of the basic fundamental roles, that of a business adviser.
Field trips
Students may visit various businesses and organizations, providing an opportunity to observe and experience the real life situations described in the classroom ses-sions. They also offer the students an opportunity to interact with the managers and other functionaries and assimilate skills and attitudes relevant for managing different situations.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, the Youth Employment Network (I-YEN) has developed a number of prac-tical aids for young people seeking work or looking to start their own businesses. These include:
A Pocket Guide for Youth Seeking Work which targets young people both in and out of school, unemployed and new entrants to the labour market. The Guide provides young Indonesians with information on how to profile themselves for work and what to do to seek work.
The I-YEN has provided funding support for Youth Entrepreneurship Start-up, a youth business programme for aspiring university graduates with good business ideas but no access to capital, based on the model of business mentoring and loans devel-oped by Youth Business International.
In partnership with the Ministry of National Education, the ILO has started a pilot test with its Know About Business entrepreneurship education programme at sec-ondary vocational education, involving more than 50 schools during the academic year 2005/2006. The pilot test started with the training of 120 teachers from secondary schools and from teacher training institutes. The KAB programme will be combined with the ILO start-up programme SYB that had been tested during the previous aca-demic year.
These programmes are designed for young women and men in senior vocational secondary schools (15–18 year olds) to help them stimulate their entrepreneurial con-sciousness and skills and to consider business development as a viable income-gen-eration alternative.
The pilot test will allow the Ministry of Education to take an informed decision for the general introduction of KAB and SYB in vocational education.
Other important activities include the development of a toolkit for municipal offi cials that will facilitate work with young workers in the informal sector and the publication of an employers’ guide and a workers’ guide to youth employment in Bahasa.
The World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme are working with the Ministry of Education and youth organizations to focus on the special needs of mar-ginalized youth through the development of life-skills programmes for in-school and out-of-school youth, especially those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.
Networking
Students are encouraged to participate in national and international business sim-ulation networks on the internet and acquire global economic knowledge. Such projects facilitate cultural sharing and understanding.
Teaching tools
The use and sophistication of teaching tools in different programmes depend to a large extent on the resources available to the schools.
Materials and resources in western countries tend to be fairly advanced, relying on specially-designed course materials, multimedia and internet. These are designed or supplied by national education systems (often the case in Europe) or are purchased by local education authorities from not-for-profit organizations specialising in entre-preneurship or enterprise education (as is often the case in the United States).
In developing and transition countries, the tools have more frequently been developed with the technical assistance of international development partners, such as the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Development Programme, bilateral funding agencies and/or international non-governmental organizations. Private sector sponsorship of campaigns is also common, particu-larly in Latin America and Asia (see box on opposite page).
Professional training and development
The success of any educational and training programme depends on teachers who have had quality training, who appreciate the approach and can use the materials properly. Some countries include teacher training and on-going professional devel-opment as part of the programme framework.
South Africa
The Foundation for Entrepreneurial and Business Development (FEBDEV) provides entrepreneurial skills to individuals, companies and educational institutions in Gauteng, Western Cape and North West Provinces in South Africa, and the programmes are regionally specifi c. FEBDEV aims to provide educators with the skills to assist students to become entrepreneurial, and believes it contributes to creating a spirit of enterprise through workshops and networking with decision-makers.
Australia
The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs has pro-vided all schools with a package of professional development resources for leaders and teachers in both primary and secondary schools. The package includes:
• The Enterprising School, Format: PDF (849 kb, 32 pages);
• Enterprise Education in Primary Schools, Format: PDF (1,206 kb, 128 pages);
• Enterprising Education in Secondary Schools, Format: PDF (1,246 kb, 148 pages).
An accompanying CD-ROM has been distributed containing all the activities and strate-gies in the books. These resources aim to assist teachers and school leaders in helping young people develop an understanding of what business is about, including all aspects of what it means to work in a private business or a community organization.
Kenya
Entrepreneurship education was introduced in the national curricula already during the mid-nineties. A syllabus had been developed and the teacher lectured the subject without being particularly prepared and trained for it. It turned out that the teachers used a rather theoretical approach that does not raise the expected interest among the young students. After a KAB workshop organized in Kenya in 2004, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology asked the ILO to train 200 teachers with the KAB methodology and content in order to deliver entrepreneurship education through all vocational training institutions starting with the academic year 2006/2007.
United States
EdTec (a social enterprise) provides teacher training through videoconferencing and the EDGE University “certified entrepreneurship instructor” training, annual entrepreneurship educators conference. The New Youth Entrepreneur Instructor’s Guide was developed in conjunction with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and provides a companion guide to the New Youth Entrepreneur curriculum with information on implementing the curriculum, module overview, supplemental learning activities, and handouts.
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