case studies
Young Entrepreneurs
The “School Enterprise Programme” taught school children in Northeast Romania how to develop their own business plans.
Summary:
This case study describes a donor-funded project which taught kids in Romania to develop their own business plans. It is of relevance to those working in education, grant funds as well as social and economic policy makers. The programme itself was carried out in 2004/5 and this case study was written in 2009.
The School Enterprise Programme (SEP) aimed to promote the growth of new businesses in one of the poorest areas of Romania by encouraging the teaching of business skills in schools. It was funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) for the Northeast Regional Development agency and implemented in 2004 and 2005.
The Problem:
The wider problem that this programme tried to address was economic development, in other words to encourage the setting up of new businesses in the region. Economic development is particularly hard in poor areas as there is inevitably a lack of skills and experience and they typically suffer from migration (the best qualified people leaving) and negative attitudes.
The Irish experience proved invaluable in setting up the SEP in Romania, as Ireland was one of the poorest west European countries until recently and western Ireland in particular suffered from generations of poverty and emigration.
Challenges and opportunities
Although economic development is particularly difficult in poor areas like the north east of Romania, the programme was well received by the educational authorities, the county school inspectorates, who immediately saw the value in teaching children business planning skills. The teachers themselves were equally open to the programme and four schools from each county were selected for the pilot phase (first year) and the “train the trainers” phase went smoothly.
Perhaps the reason why the programme was so easily introduced was precisely because of the areas poverty. In a poor area there are inevitably a shortage of jobs and new business startups, and as a result the authorities can be more receptive to new development concepts like SEP. The experts on this programme noticed that the authorities in Botosani, in particular, were very open to new projects and collaborations that could lead to new opportunities being developed.
The innovative nature of the project
The most innovative part of the School Enterprise Programme was how concise and clear it was compared to similar business planning programmes that were being taught in Romanian schools at the time.
SEP focused on quickly developing the business concept in a group, and immediately testing the concept by means of market research on the streets, and not going into excessive legal and administrative detail. The results were extraordinary in that kids who had become bored with the school curriculum, and cynical about their own opportunities in Romania, became enthusiastic by the realisation that here was an instrument that would enable them to do what they really wanted to do, and make a profit.
The SEP methodology involved presenting the programme to the 17 year old children (class 11 in the Romanian school system); inviting them to form groups and brainstorm business ideas that were both local and viable, eventually choosing one; carrying out market research (interviewing people on the streets); developing and finalising the plan. Many people would drop out of SEP as there was more work involved than many assumed. A committee would choose the best plan from all those submitted and a prize was given to the best one.
Our involvement in SEP was through company partner Rupert Wolfe Murray, who worked on the programme as a communication expert. His main work consisted of helping the North East Regional Development Agency improve its public communication, but he was always interested in the SEP in general and the ideas of the school children in particular. In the first year of the programme he visited schools in the two pilot counties and gave the kids feedback about their plans, and he also produced a short 15 minute documentary about the kids, and their ideas. In the second year of the programme he visited schools in all 6 of the counties in the North East region and gave feedback to over a thousand young people.
“I was really impressed with the enthusiasm these kids had for their business plans” reflects Wolfe Murray, “you could feel that they were putting a lot of energy into their business plans and I knew this was a sharp contrast to the way most kids go through school in Romania, where the system is very centralised and authoritarian and initiative just has no place. This programme gave them an opportunity to really develop one of their own ideas. Many of the ideas were not really viable – often too big for the community – but the value for those involved was learning the basic business planning skills, knowing it is possible, rather than setting up particular businesses.”
Links:
School Enterprise Film
North East Regional Development Agency
UK's Department for International Development (DFID)
The “School Enterprise Programme” taught school children in Northeast Romania how to develop their own business plans.
Summary:
This case study describes a donor-funded project which taught kids in Romania to develop their own business plans. It is of relevance to those working in education, grant funds as well as social and economic policy makers. The programme itself was carried out in 2004/5 and this case study was written in 2009.
The School Enterprise Programme (SEP) aimed to promote the growth of new businesses in one of the poorest areas of Romania by encouraging the teaching of business skills in schools. It was funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) for the Northeast Regional Development agency and implemented in 2004 and 2005.
The Problem:
The wider problem that this programme tried to address was economic development, in other words to encourage the setting up of new businesses in the region. Economic development is particularly hard in poor areas as there is inevitably a lack of skills and experience and they typically suffer from migration (the best qualified people leaving) and negative attitudes.
The Irish experience proved invaluable in setting up the SEP in Romania, as Ireland was one of the poorest west European countries until recently and western Ireland in particular suffered from generations of poverty and emigration.
Challenges and opportunities
Although economic development is particularly difficult in poor areas like the north east of Romania, the programme was well received by the educational authorities, the county school inspectorates, who immediately saw the value in teaching children business planning skills. The teachers themselves were equally open to the programme and four schools from each county were selected for the pilot phase (first year) and the “train the trainers” phase went smoothly.
Perhaps the reason why the programme was so easily introduced was precisely because of the areas poverty. In a poor area there are inevitably a shortage of jobs and new business startups, and as a result the authorities can be more receptive to new development concepts like SEP. The experts on this programme noticed that the authorities in Botosani, in particular, were very open to new projects and collaborations that could lead to new opportunities being developed.
The innovative nature of the project
The most innovative part of the School Enterprise Programme was how concise and clear it was compared to similar business planning programmes that were being taught in Romanian schools at the time.
SEP focused on quickly developing the business concept in a group, and immediately testing the concept by means of market research on the streets, and not going into excessive legal and administrative detail. The results were extraordinary in that kids who had become bored with the school curriculum, and cynical about their own opportunities in Romania, became enthusiastic by the realisation that here was an instrument that would enable them to do what they really wanted to do, and make a profit.
The SEP methodology involved presenting the programme to the 17 year old children (class 11 in the Romanian school system); inviting them to form groups and brainstorm business ideas that were both local and viable, eventually choosing one; carrying out market research (interviewing people on the streets); developing and finalising the plan. Many people would drop out of SEP as there was more work involved than many assumed. A committee would choose the best plan from all those submitted and a prize was given to the best one.
Our involvement in SEP was through company partner Rupert Wolfe Murray, who worked on the programme as a communication expert. His main work consisted of helping the North East Regional Development Agency improve its public communication, but he was always interested in the SEP in general and the ideas of the school children in particular. In the first year of the programme he visited schools in the two pilot counties and gave the kids feedback about their plans, and he also produced a short 15 minute documentary about the kids, and their ideas. In the second year of the programme he visited schools in all 6 of the counties in the North East region and gave feedback to over a thousand young people.
“I was really impressed with the enthusiasm these kids had for their business plans” reflects Wolfe Murray, “you could feel that they were putting a lot of energy into their business plans and I knew this was a sharp contrast to the way most kids go through school in Romania, where the system is very centralised and authoritarian and initiative just has no place. This programme gave them an opportunity to really develop one of their own ideas. Many of the ideas were not really viable – often too big for the community – but the value for those involved was learning the basic business planning skills, knowing it is possible, rather than setting up particular businesses.”
Links:
School Enterprise Film
North East Regional Development Agency
UK's Department for International Development (DFID)
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