Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit and skills among young people

THE young entrepreneurs skills should strengthen economic know-how and business skills. Besides imparting sound economic knowledge, the young entrepreneur skills also acts on personal characteristics. It should aim to promote a positive attitude towards the Tanzanian economy and to encourage entrepreneurial attitudes among young skilled people. It should also aim to develop start-up skills in a modern and practice-oriented way. The objective is to see starting up a business as an attractive option in one professional career. As it leads to a young entrepreneur skills, therefore the program should provide an additional asset for young skilled workers.

ORIGINALLY AIMED AT STUDENTS IN VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS THE YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR SKILLS SHOULD NOW BE SPREAD TO KINDERGARTEN, PRIMARY SCHOOLS, SECONDARY ACADEMIC SCHOOLS, AND UNIVERSITIES, WHERE TRAINEES SHOULD COMPLETE THEIR THEORETICAL TRAINING IN PARALLEL WITH APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING IN COMPANIES.

 

Developing centers for young entrepreneurship in vocational schools and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit and skills among students from these schools project should be a jointly be performed together the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and Junior Achievement in Tanzania (JAT). There is a need to set up centers in several different sectors of industry such as an architecture and construction; food and food technologies; textile and clothing; and forestry and wood processing. As part of the project, students shall be required to form a mini-company pre school and operate and run it for one year; the course to be offered is required to be as an elective to all students.

A BUSINESS CLUB WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND EXPERTS FROM THE RELEVANT INDUSTRY WILL BE NEEDED TO BE SET UP TO FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUPPORTING DELIVERY AND FOR PROVIDING PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE. STUDENTS, SCHOOLS, AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WILL BE REQUIRED TO COOPERATE SO AS TO ORGANISE AND PROMOTE EVENTS SUCH AS TRADE FAIRS, COMPETITIONS, AND JOINT PROJECTS.

This model can be received extremely well, as a sustainable public-private partnership that actively involves the business community and is innovative in several ways. Firstly, the students?f involvement should raise awareness and support for the promotion of young entrepreneurship in the local communities. Secondly, it should link the real workplace with education and makes education much more market-oriented, i.e. developing the new skills needed for the globalised economy. Thirdly, the teacher should act as a consultant (mentor), and non-traditional methods of learning will be adopted.

TEACHING METHODS SHOULD BE SUCH AS BRAINSTORMING, TEAMWORK, CASE-METHOD, PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, AND INDIVIDUAL TASKS. RELEVANT STUDY MATERIALS, TEACHER MANUALS AND USER GUIDES FOR PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN THE NEW MODULES SHOULD ALSO BE DEVELOPED AND DELIVERED TO PILOT SCHOOLS DURING THE PROJECT PERIOD. THE USE OF SIMULATIONS AND VIDEOS SHOULD ALSO BE IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT. THESE SHOULD INCLUDE THE MANAGEMENT OF A SIMPLE PIZZA RESTAURANT OR HAMBURGER RESTAURANT AND A VIDEO OF INTERVIEWS WITH YOUNG AND OLDER PEOPLE ENTREPRENEURS.