To say that we need to educate our ‘people’ to progress in this 21st century has now become quite clichéd. It is not that we have not explored the exhortation: we have referred earlier this week to the efforts of the Ministry of Education to better deliver the goals of improved literacy and numeracy to our students. The government has also emphasised IT4D – Information Technology for Development and has introduced laptops and Educational TV. Witness the efforts to produce better results at CSEC Maths.
But we have created a vicious cycle. Many students see education as irrelevant and drop out of schools or set low personal goals. Students’ poor performances in turn reinforce educators’ narrow focus on the fundamentals of core subjects – see above – making school feel even more irrelevant to students. Breaking this cycle is critical to our ability to “educate our way to a better economy.”
And this is the goal of our educational system, isn’t it? But what does a “better economy” actually look like? The US, where so many of us want to emigrate, is ironically asking this same question. Much of what follows in this and the following Editorial is taken from one American proposal. A better economy must be more closely attuned to the demands and rhythms of twenty-first century markets. Today’s markets rapidly follow innovations, while staid institutions and static business models quickly become obsolete. Technology disrupts one thing after another.
To succeed in this new, dynamic environment, a workforce must be comprised of individuals who have both the academic foundation and the creative mindset necessary to spark innovations. These employees must be able to recognize opportunities amid obstacles, set and achieve goals, and refine the skills necessary to solve real-world problems. In a word, we must create entrepreneurs.
Our schools are still captive to an industrial-era approach to education, moving students through an assembly line of arbitrary grade levels without pausing to consider what skills the market demands of the young Guyanese they produce. Yes, Guyana has undertaken a wide array of education reforms, but they are largely focused on the question of how schools should be structured and managed, giving teachers incentives or fine tuning exams and assessments. And we keep on producing non-functional graduates or dropouts.
Most of our dropouts would have stayed in school if they felt it was applicable to real life. Many of them would love to start their own business. One can only imagine what would happen if we start entrepreneurship education programs early enough in schools so students see the entrepreneurial path as viable. Structural reforms will not make school relevant or rekindle the entrepreneurial spirit. How and what we teach must be better aligned with how students learn and what is necessary for their future success.
Entrepreneurship education can set in motion a virtuous cycle that surmounts these twin challenges and moves us closer to the entrepreneurial economy we envision. Entrepreneurship education reframes core academic lessons in a way that demonstrates their relevance to future earning potential and happiness. Pricing a product or service that will earn students some spending money engages them in learning Maths in a way that is highly relevant to their lives—especially for those from poorer socio-economic backgrounds.
Building a business plan for an original idea asks students to demonstrate skills that are rarely emphasized in our education system. Creative thinking, market research, opportunity recognition, strategic planning, goal setting, and all types of communication are key to building a business plan and presenting it to potential investors.
Studies have found that students’ educational expectations were one of the strongest predictors of academic achievement and that adolescents’ aspirations predict their educational attainment. Simply put, students stay in school and are more successful if they believe that what they are being taught is relevant to their lives and can bring success. Entrepreneurship education succeeds in bridging the challenges we face by showing students how core subjects relate to a brighter future, while at the same time instilling the skills vital for the workforce of today.
Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/03/16/teaching-entrepreneurship/