The ‘world’, in which young people are educated in, is quite different to the ‘world’ in which they will work.  So it is very important that students whilst still at school are given a good understanding of the ‘world’ in which they will be working.

And in today’s society the world of work is constantly changing. But a key ingredient is entrepreneurship and it is certainly a world frequently being bandied about.

So what is entrepreneurship? It is the willingness and capacity to develop, organise and manage a business venture.

It is characterised by innovation and risk taking and is an essential part of South Australia’s and Australia’s ability to succeed in an ever changing and increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Business SA has long recognised the importance of entrepreneurship and established the SA Young Entrepreneurship Scheme (SAYES) back in 1998, which is for 18 to 35 year olds.

But we need to be giving students a good understanding of entrepreneurship even before they leave school.  In Business SA’s 2014 Charter for a more Prosperous South Australia we have recommended that the study of entrepreneurship be embedded into the school curriculum.  We fully support students being provided the best academic grounding but we must also prepare them for the ‘world’ of work.

Our economy relies the next generation of entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks to start businesses which ultimately provide job opportunities for others.

And although not all of our young people will start a business, they still need to have a good understanding of entrepreneurship.

Because the late Steven Jobs, co founder of Apple Corporation summed it up nicely when he said, “It’s about the people you have, how you’re led and how much you get it”.  If employees understand entrepreneurship then they will ‘get’ how business works.

Business SA was invited to participate in the G20 Agenda for Growth: Opportunities for Small to Medium Businesses (SMEs) Conference.  The event brought together Australian and international thought leaders to focus on key challenges facing SMEs.  G20 nations dominate international trade and drive global economic policy  At the conference our representative strongly recommended that Entrepreneurship be integrated into the Australian school curricula.

And ultimately one of the key recommendations was -

Entrepreneurship should be integrated into Australian school curricula and encouraged as a post-education employment option.

So our next step is to have entrepreneurship integrated into the curricula which will help identify and encourage entrepreneurial young people, as they will create employment for themselves and their communities.