The project “Entrepreneur Education: the Way of Success” was presented at a ceremony presided over by the Regional Secretariat for Education and Training in Angra do Heroísmo on Tuesday.

The programme, which was created by the Regional Directorate for Youth in a partnership with the Regional Secretariat for Education and Training, is also supported by the Entrepreneurship Centre of the University of the Azores in a partnership with Gesentrepeneur.

Addressed at middle school and junior high students as well as at secondary and vocational training school students, the programme aims to stimulate Azorean students to create their own company.

For the Regional Secretary for Education and Training this is a strategy “to instil among students the capacity for initiative, the ability to make decisions, organise and plan risks so that they may be able invest in an innovative manner to stimulate change.”

The archipelago is one of the first areas to move ahead with a project of this nature addressed at middle and junior high school students. For Lina Mendes, it is necessary that Azorean youngsters settle in the Azores, thus become promoting change and generating wealth.

“Given the period we are going through, this initiative is praiseworthy; it is increasingly necessary to encourage our youngster to develop a culture of entrepreneurship.” Lina Mendes also said that “with proposals like that, our schools are schools pro-active taking into account what we aim to achieve in the medium and short term.”

The programme counts on the participation of teachers as well as on the use innovative methodologies based on the concept of “learning by doing” which, unlike traditional education, are more suitable to the profile of new generations.

“The training of teachers is provided in this programme. It is essential that they become working tools in order to gain the necessary skills to encourage students to be the promoters of the entrepreneurship,” said Lina Mendes.

“With regard to basic education schools, these topics will be addressed in the subject of Citizenship Education while in secondary schools, it will be integrated in the subject of Project Area.

“Entrepreneurship Education: the Way of Success” will be implemented in the next school year in 2010/2011, which begins in September.