Entrepreneurship curriculum programme (ECP): Fostering entrepreneurial youth
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
(
United Nations / Multilateral body
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#SDGAction33406
Description
UNIDO’s Entrepreneurship Curriculum Programme (ECP) is a cost-effective investment to develop entrepreneurial attitudes and awareness in secondary education, with a view to enabling youth to participate actively in the economic transformation of their communities and countries after they leave school. ECP started in 2002 in Uganda by assisting the Ministry of Education in introducing entrepreneurship learning in secondary schools. Subsequently, several other countries followed this example and continue, on their own, to offer entrepreneurial learning to their students. Currently, UNIDO is assisting Sao Tome and Principe in this endevour.
By partnering with local educational institutions, ECP is tailored to meet the unique needs and developmental goals of a country, in both urban and rural areas. ECP comprises three distinct yet complementary phases, which may be either implemented together or pursued independently to respond to the particular challenges and requirements of each situation. In the curriculum development phase, a technical working group – consisting of curriculum development officers, school heads, teachers, inspectors, and teacher training institutes – is established to develop curricular material, including syllabi, manuals, assessment guidelines and impact monitoring tools. The private sector is consulted to ensure that the syllabus is demand-driven. This curriculum material is, then, validated and endorsed by national authorities. The pilot phase involves training teachers from pilot schools in entrepreneurial content and pedagogy, as well as assessing teaching practices and learning materials in pilot schools. During this process, schools are supported in their efforts to develop local collaborative initiatives by parents, local community members and the private sector. These initiatives are aimed at encouraging families and communities to overcome potentially negative societal perceptions of entrepreneurship, in particular for women and to foster linkages between schools and the local labour market. Entrepreneurship curriculum is monitored to assess changes in students’ entrepreneurial attitudes, knowledge of economic dynamics and ability to identify value-creating opportunities. Special attention is given to changing attitudes and behaviour in girls. The roll-out phase focuses on designing strategies and plans to scale up adoption of curricula by schools nationwide.
To date, several millions of secondary students in ECP-assisted countries have gone through entrepreneurship classes. Impact studies have shown that such experiential learning has increased youth’s sense of self-efficacy, perseverance and need for achievement as well as the awareness of saving to invest, willingness to deal with uncertain situations and acceptance of calculated risks. Moreover, students of entrepreneurship generally place emphasis on working on their own, in formal, rather than informal, businesses. When delivered effectively, entrepreneurship education seems to be a powerful tool to unlock the potential of girls in rural areas. A study in Mozambique revealed that the number of girls aiming at starting new ventures was some 30% more when teachers and principals actively fostered entrepreneurial attitudes. Studies also reveal that teachers learn to embrace new ways of teaching and value the knowledge and skills transfer by creating communities of shared practice.
Conducive educational policy frameworks are key to successful institutionalization of entrepreneurial learning in schools and encourage change in schools, teachers and inspectors. On the ground, schools’ pro-active engagement with the private sector and local communities is equally important to build students’ enterprising attitudes and entrepreneurial alertness. Moreover, for ECP graduates to realise the full benefits of the course, youth-oriented and business-conducive policies should be in place. ECP works to promote dialogue within and between educational and economic ministries and government agencies to ‘level the playing field’
Sustainability is ensured by working through national education systems. Once an entrepreneurship curriculum is developed and piloted in selected schools and classes (ECP), it can be rolled out to greater number of schools and achieve nationwide implementation. ECP builds stakeholder capacity, particularly that of technical working groups, to allow for future independent reform of the entrepreneurship curriculum. Experiences reveal the existence of a virtuous circle: teachers who see positive students’ reactions to entrepreneurial learning are more likely to continue applying and improving their new practices, bringing about even more student changes. For replicability, ECP’s three-phased methodology draws on hands-on experiences in introducing entrepreneurial curricula in secondary education, especially low-income countries. It has been, fully or partly, replicated and contextualized in some 11 countries.
For further information on ECP, see https://www.unido.org/our-focus/creating-sharedprosperity/agribusiness-…. N.B. More information material is under preparation and will be uploaded by the end of 2021.
Distance learning and radio programmes have been employed as short-term measures to enable students to continue learning. COVID-19 has highlighted the particularly challenging situations of students, schools and communities who have limited or no access to digital and technology resources. These challenges inform future interventions in blended learning and integration of technology into teaching, learning and assessment. A valuable opportunity also exists to promote current needs responsive curricula that promote circular economy and green entrepreneurship principles.
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The ultimate beneficiaries are secondary school students, while the immediate beneficiaries are schools, teachers and educational officers. Key stakeholders are ministries of education, economic ministries, teacher training institutes/university faculties, civil society and local private sector (companies and banks).
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Cristina, Industrial Development Officer
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