Why promoting entrepreneurship awareness

More and more countries around the world have introduced or are working towards introducing policy measures to support the growth of an “enterprise culture” and entrepreneurship. In particular, efforts have been made towards introducing entrepreneurship into the edu­cational system as a way to develop entrepreneurial attitudes, skills, behaviours and mind-sets, and improv­ing young people’s employability overall.

A wide range of factors have contributed to this growing interest in entrepreneurship education and training and there is an increasing recognition of the important role education can play in developing entrepreneurial mind-sets, attitudes and societies.

Economic recession, high unemployment and fluctuations in international trade in many countries are just but a few reasons which have led policy makers and political decision makers to pay increased attention to the potential role of the private sector and entrepreneurs as a means of job creation, and to the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial, creative and innovative workforce both in private and public sectors as strategies for promoting economic prosperity and decent work over the long term.

It is the young women and men of today who will build the foundations for the economies and societies of tomorrow. However, youth employment levels remain low and evidence shows that the recent economic crisis has further exacerbated this trend leading to the larg­est cohort ever of unemployed youth.

With an estimated increase of 7.8 million unemployed young women and men between 2007 and 2009, the total figure of unem­ployed youth currently stands at 81 million. As recent events have demonstrated, youth unemployment has created a dire situation in many countries contributing to social and economic costs to societies, communities, families and individuals.

Given that prospects for youth employment in the coming years remain grim compared to that of adults, but acknowledging the tremendous potential of the newer generations, many countries are looking at promoting youth entrepreneurship as an important component of wider youth employment poli­cies. The end goal is to unleash the underutilized pro­ductive potential of youth by enabling them to channel their energy, talent, creativity and skills through entre­preneurship.

Entrepreneurship education and training has received growing attention around the world as policy makers, teachers, researchers and students them­selves increasingly request information and access to this expanding field. There have been a growing num­ber of initiatives and reports, many in Western coun­tries, which have contributed further knowledge as well as increased awareness about the importance of entrepreneurship education and training in fostering entrepreneurial societies and youth.

The European Commission has done a significant amount of work in this area, including the publication of the “Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurship Education in Europe 4“, and more recently, the World Economic Forum’s Global Education Initiative 2009 report on “Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs 5” and the Global Entrepreneur­ship Monitor’s 2010 special report on the current global state of entrepreneurship education and training and training 

For its part, the International Labour Organization  has been actively involved in promoting and sup­porting entrepreneurship education and training for over 15 years through programmes such as Start and Improve Your Business, a management-training programme com­prised of inter-related training packages and supporting materials for small-scale entrepreneurs wanting to start and grow their businesses, and the Know About Business entrepreneurship education programme for further information, this second programme is mostly focused on promoting entrepreneurship awareness in vocational and secondary education settings via teach­ing materials and methods that are considered appropri­ate for young women and men aged 14 and up.

Here the objective is to help Tanzanian youth consider the option of starting a business so that they can decide later whether they wish to pursue this path or not. It provides general life skills along with some basic business knowledge and skills. All of ILO’s work in entrepreneurship training and educa­tion is geared towards helping women and men achieve and retain more and better work opportunities.

While entrepreneurship education and training will not solve all of the economic and social issues highlighted above, it can help set the stage for more entrepreneurial young women and men, and our soci­ety at large. This in turn can help make Tanzanian society and community be better positioned to create economic growth and social value.