Why young entrepreneurship programmes need to be integrated into the national curricula

By Christian Gaya: Business Times January 25, 2013

Young entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. Young entrepreneurship education should foster skills that form young entrepreneurial behaviour like creativity, sense of initiative, risk acceptance, self-confidence, capacity to work in a team, etc. In addition, specific business knowledge needs to be taught, according to the level of education. Although numerous initiatives on young entrepreneurship education are needed in the country, these are not always part of a coherent framework.

Young entrepreneurship involves creativity, innovation and risk taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This supports everyone in day-today life at home and in society, makes employees more aware of the context of their work and better able to seize opportunities, and provides a foundation for young entrepreneurs establishing a social or commercial activity.”

Young entrepreneurship should contribute to job creation and growth. And be able to contribute to fostering social and economic cohesion for regions whose development is lagging behind like Tanzania as a developing country. Young entrepreneurship is crucial to competitiveness and it unlocks personal potential. On one hand young entrepreneurs achievements can provide societies with wealth, jobs and diversity of choice for consumers. And on the other coin young entrepreneurship can play a positive role in delivering health, education and welfare services efficiently.

Tanzania needs to foster young entrepreneurship-friendly culture for growth and jobs. There is a necessity to emphasis the need to create an overall positive entrepreneurial climate, and to strengthen respective measures. The important role of education in promoting young entrepreneurial attitudes should now be widely recognized by politicians and decision makers in the country.

In order to succeed young entrepreneurship programmes and activities need to be integrated into the national curricula, either as a horizontal element or as a subject in its own right. In addition, schools should be given practical support both materially and morally. Special attention needs to be dedicated to training the teachers and to raising awareness among heads of schools and colleges as well as universities. At higher education level, universities and technical institutes should integrate young entrepreneurship across different subjects.

Tanzanian society as a whole needs to foster its young entrepreneurial drive more effectively. In this context further and young and adult education should start in gaining its importance. Not only is the significance of young entrepreneurship widely recognized for economic growth and development, but also for the individual. Young entrepreneurship should provide opportunities to enrich both ones working careers and personal life.

The importance of young entrepreneurship for economic growth and development should now be widely recognized as well as its importance for competitiveness of firms. Additionally to this young entrepreneurship should also provide individuals the opportunity to enrich their working careers and increase personal wealth.

Encouraging the enterprise spirit should be the key to creating jobs and improving competitiveness and economic growth throughout Tanzania. Although variables like the number of new start-ups (rate of young entrepreneurship) or the psychological attitudes of people towards self-employment (latent or potential young entrepreneurship) may be influenced by a number of different factors, there is certainly a cultural aspect that needs to be taken into account as previously discussed and this is very crucial for young entrepreneurship development.

Hence, it needs a pro-active and young entrepreneurial culture in our modern knowledge society. Young entrepreneurial attitudes and understanding are an essential factor such that people learn not to depend on current events, but to be capable of actively managing their future. Apart from the economical point of view it is important to keep the impact of young entrepreneurship for individuals in mind and the personal fulfillment. It is a fact that young entrepreneurship competences and abilities should really be able to change peoples’ lives by giving them a chance of fulfillment at professional levels.