Teachers trained in KAB programme |24 April 2018
A five-day educator workshop on Know About Business (KAB) which is aimed at training teachers from primary and secondary schools, lecturers from professional centres and curriculum development officers, was officially launched yesterday at the Mahek Restaurant, Coral Strand Hotel at Beau Vallon.
The end-results are that those taking part will be able to master the modules of the KAB entrepreneurship education curriculum, apply learning methods in the classrooms and use games to reinforce entrepreneurship learning outcomes.
Hosted by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO); Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation and the Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status, the workshop was attended by ministers and principal secretaries of these ministries.
Representing the ILO were Jens Dyring Christensen, senior enterprise development specialist and job, and Severine Deboon-David, employment specialist.
Both Mr Christensen and Ms Deboon-David were present here last year during the Careers’ Week activities where they ran a workshop for local teachers under the theme ‘Building an Entrepreneurial Culture for enhancing youth employability’.
Prominent speakers from related institutions like the Seychelles Investment Board (SIB) and the UniSey Enterprise Centre of The Guy Morel Institute, made presentations on what their organisations are doing to help the entrepreneurial culture in our people or where to go to obtain clarifications on what types of businesses they can be involved in.
The opening day also saw the presentation of ‘Know About Business Learning Materials’ to the three ministers and principal secretary of the organising ministries.
“This capacity building intervention is one of the priorities identified by the government of Seychelles, through our ministry which stemmed from the advisory missions conducted by the ILO in 2016 and 2017 on youth entrepreneurship promotion,” said Dr Odile Decommarmond, principal secretary for early childhood, primary and secondary education, in her opening remark. And to sustain such an endeavour, she said the ministry will ensure that all additional resources and the required teaching and training facilities, are provided to educational institutions.
“It is critical that our educational institutions are supported throughout the journey, because entrepreneurship is one of the 21st century capabilities, alongside a number of other skills required for future jobs and sustainable careers,” added Dr Decommarmond.
She remarked that her ministry, in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is in the process of formulating an integrated education policy entitled ‘learning innovation and sustainable development’.
“For you as teachers this will allow you to take a good and hard look at how you teach entrepreneurship and business courses to your students,” said Mr Christensen, adding hopefully the course will urge the teachers to include more experiencing methods in their business and entrepreneurship lessons.