Final report - European Commission - Europa

KEY NOTE SPEECH, MS. MAIVE RUTE,DIRECTOR, ENTERPRISE AND INDUSTRY DIRECTORATE-GENERAL,EUROPEAN COMMISSIONEurope needs to focus its efforts on the factors which can generate more growth and employment. There is a positivecorrelation between entrepreneurship and economic growth. Sustainable growth based on innovation requiresan increasing number of start-ups, which are likely to provide more and better jobs. Europe needs more economicgrowth, which means more new firms, more entrepreneurs willing to embark in innovative ventures, and more highgrowthSMEs. The Lisbon Partnership for Growth and Jobs stresses the importance of policies promoting knowledge,education and skills. Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets among young people will contribute importantly to achievingour goals. The 2006 Spring European Council fully endorsed the Commission’s view that Member States shouldreinforce entrepreneurship education at all levels.In that context, the recent Commission’s Communication on “Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through educationand learning” is a major policy initiative. It follows projects carried out by the Commission in cooperation with theMember States, and also with Norway.Why entrepreneurship education is considered today a key competence for all young people? Of course, not allyoungsters who are exposed to entrepreneurship programmes will decide later on to start their own company.However, by taking part in entrepreneurship programmes and activities, students become more willing to take responsibilityand to use their initiative, better at developing their own ideas and at channelling their creativity.Therefore entrepreneurship helps young people to be more creative and self-confident in whatever they undertake.It relates to managing one’s own life; to being creative in any working activity; and to establishing and expanding abusiness successfully.The definition of entrepreneurship education adopted at European level stresses that this concept is much widerthan just training on how to start a business. Entrepreneurship is firstly a mindset. As attitudes take shape alreadyat an early age, school education can greatly contribute to fostering entrepreneurial mindsets, starting from primaryschool.In fact, the objectives of entrepreneurship education in primary school will include nurturing those transversal skillsand those attributes that support entrepreneurial attitudes. This, through active learning methods based on children’snatural curiosity. Especially in secondary education it is important to raise students’ awareness of self-employmentand entrepreneurship as viable options for their future career. At this level, entrepreneurial mindsets and skillscan be best promoted through learning by doing and experiencing entrepreneurship in practice, by means of concreteprojects and activities. At university level, entrepreneurship education has of course a stronger focus on generatingbusiness ideas, technology-based activities and innovation.Coming back to experiencing entrepreneurship in practice, mini-companies run by students at school are particularlyeffective in stimulating the creativity of youngsters. Through mini-companies run at school, students develop anauthentic economic activity on a small scale, or simulate realistically the operations of a firm. The development oflinks with the local community and the use of mentors and advisers from businesses are key elements of successfulprogrammes. Some of these mini-companies are so successful that they become real companies when studentsfinish their activity in school. But even disregarding direct and measurable results, such as start-ups and innovativeventures created by former students, these activities, when they take place from early education, provoke a culturalchange. And this is what we especially need in Europe.A Commission’s project has recently delivered an overview of mini-company programmes in secondary education inthe EU, with the objective of further promoting these activities. It is estimated that more than 200,000 secondaryschool students take part in these programmes in the EU 25 and Norway every year. However, in most countries the14Entrepreneurship Education in Europe: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning