FinnCap, The Entrepreneurs Network and the APPG for Entrepreneurship have organised a letter signed by 250 leading entrepreneurs and academics who believe that entrepreneurship can play a leading role in the national curriculum to help young people develop the skills they need for the future.
The letter says that despite the efforts of teachers, charities, and social enterprises, too many young people are leaving school without the entrepreneurial skills necessary to succeed in the 2020s.
Many who are leaders in business today started their enterprises at a time when the Internet was new and learning was a more level playing field for all. Many have fallen by the wayside but those who survived have had to learn entrepreneurship the hard way. Today, for those starting out, competition is fiercer than ever – it’s no longer the case that you can open up a local business, you are automatically in competition with businesses from around the globe and so developing an entrepreneurship mindset is more important than ever.
A report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship calls for a radical shift in policy. The Government should publish a Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy, building on existing work from organisations and experience from across the world. Entrepreneurship needs to be a part of every student’s education and integrated into existing subjects such as Maths, English, and Design. This would bring subjects to life and make each subject’s relevance clear to less engaged students.
England’s approach to entrepreneurship education is lagging behind the approach adopted by many of its closest trading partners. Specifically, it falls short in three key ways: the lack of a national strategy, an entrepreneurship-focused curriculum, and ministerial ownership and accountability.
– Entrepreneurship Education report, June 2022
The letter closes stating that at the moment, responsibility for entrepreneurship education isn’t clearly assigned to a specific Secretary of State and asserting that this must change. To drive lasting change, we need accountability and ownership. The buck must stop with the Education Secretary.
Brad Aspess MBE, the Founder of Rarewaves is one of the 250 signatories to the letter. Brad was awarded his MBE in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Honours List recognition of the advice and mentoring he’s freely given to so many over the years. You can hear more from Brad at ChannelX World on the 13th of October – Book your ticket here.
