Entrepreneurship: The Next Step

Mar 18, 2012 Editorial

Following up our editorial on building entrepreneurship, we must ask how we can begin the process concretely. Several components must be in place in order to deliver on the promise of entrepreneurship education.
First among these is a curriculum oriented toward experiential learning (including, for example, activities that help students practice the skills and mindset of negotiation) and high academic standards, particularly in mathematics and related content areas such as economics.
Second, instruction must be delivered by effective educators who have completed training in entrepreneurship and experiential learning and continue to pursue ongoing professional development. The Teacher Training Institute must quickly be equipped with this capability.
Third, we need volunteers giving their time to reinforce experiential learning through business-plan coaching, field trips to businesses, and other means. Particularly in low-income neighbourhoods in the towns and in practically all the rural areas, volunteers can open students’ eyes, encourage them to set higher goals, and testify to the relevance of academic achievement.
This may all seem rather daunting, but in reality the first step requires only a simple change. We must integrate entrepreneurship education into the core curriculum required in our schools. Many countries are moving toward mandating “business” education; why not go one step further and offer young people a chance to become financially capable in the context of learning about financial opportunity and ownership? This would create a pathway exposing our young people to entrepreneurship throughout their educational journey and would immediately result in dramatic changes in both attitudes and knowledge.
How else can we expect young people to be prepared to be the workforce—and the entrepreneurial engines—of today and tomorrow? School leaders must dedicate resources and time to acquiring effective curricula and training their teachers to be the best ambassadors of this work. The return on this investment is dramatic: Students re-engaged in school begin contributing to the school community, improve their academic performance, and are more likely to graduate from high school.
But school leaders cannot do this alone. The very businesses that highlight the lack of workforce readiness must commit to being long-term partners in this solution. We need a little time, talent and treasure from the business community—small and large businesses alike.
Volunteers must be in the classroom alongside our educators, supplementing a great curriculum with real-world examples from the businesses they work for or run. Entrepreneurship education will not be effective without the experiential activities like games, field trips, and business-plan competitions that too often schools cannot afford. Businesses will have to commit to the volunteer hours and other resources necessary to bring entrepreneurship education to life in classrooms across America.
But for this plan to work, the political elite will have to get behind it. Many groups and well meaning individuals complain of particular communities being ‘marginalised’ from the world of business, and a few have even started up some pilot programs in this area. But these have inevitably died on the vine and not become self-sustaining models. Entrepreneurship education will have to be placed on the national agenda and brought to the forefront even as we debate the best path to economic growth and to rebuilding our education system.
We have a chance to articulate “money milestones” for our youth. If every child in Guyana learns the basics of business and personal finance through the lens of entrepreneurship education, we will fully open the door to opportunity for all young people regardless of their socio-economic level. The politicians should use their bully pulpit to make this happen.
Together, the education system, the business community and government at all levels can unleash the power of the ideas within our young people’s minds and produce a workforce ready to adapt to the ever-changing economy of today and the future.
The significant return on this small investment will benefit the bottom lines of commercial enterprises, our communities and our economy for generations to come. Providing every child in Guyana access to entrepreneurship education is the first step toward educating our way to a better economy.

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