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ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN THE EUAN OVERVIEW OF POLICIES AND PRACTICE; Results of thematic survey for the

EU SME Envoy Network (2015)

Antonija MršićHead of Sector for International Cooperation and Innovation

Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts; Deputy SME Envoy for Croatia

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Introduction

• Creation of intuitively entrepreneurial mind-set begins with education via boosting: – Creativity (generating new knowledge)– Entrepreneurship (applying new knowledge into

products or activities useful for society)• Do we agree on that? How is education policy

aware/involved/relevant?• What do we do in Europe (EU) to foster entrepreneurial

learning as a first step in the process of making the institutional environment favourable for individuals to become entrepreneurs?.....Croatian Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts conducted a survey to find out

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But first…about the setting

• Entrepreneurship and SME policy in the European Union is a soft law policy- no regulatory obligation for transposing EU laws into national legal system – EC gives policy recommendations via - joint „strategy paper”, policy review, policy change induced via comparison between countries and best practices

• SME Envoy Network - a forum of policy decision makers - each member state has its own „SME Envoy

• Each Envoy covers a specific priority – initiates discussion and policy sharing

• Croatia volunteered for topics: Entrepreneurship Education– + In progress: Entrepreneurship Promotion and Supporting Infrastructure

• Other countries and topics: i.e. Denmark covers topic of scale ups, Netherlands access to finance and VCs, Sweden digitalization etc.

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About the survey on EE (1)

• Croatian SME Envoy volunteered to be the rapporteur on entrepreneurship education (EE)

• Survey design, data collection and analysis in cooperation with the South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (SEECEL)

• Special EE survey designed and implemented during 20 July – 11 September 2015

• Responses received from 24 Member States

• Results first presented during the main SME event in the EU, the SME Assembly in November 2015, in Luxembourg

• Publication issued in February 2016

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About SEECEL

• The South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning is an independent, non-profit institution founded in 2009 to promote and foster EE on the initiative of eight (8) South East European countries:– Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, The former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey• SEECEL's work program and activities fully

supported by the European Commission and the Croatian Government

• Founded by the MEC and the Croatian Chamber of Economy

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About the survey (2)

Aims of this survey:• To identify trends with regards to both the

progress and challenges facing entrepreneurship education

• To provide illustrative country examples• To provide recommendations for furthering the

entrepreneurship education agenda, with specific reference to the potential role of the SME Envoy Network

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Policy background for EE in the EU

Entrepreneurship education is identified as a priority in the following EU strategic documents:• Europe 2020 Strategy• Policy framework on SME development

(SBA; Entrepreneurship 2020)• Policy framework for education and training

(e.g. ET 2020; Rethinking Education; Council conclusions on entrepreneurship in education and training 2015; etc.)

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SURVEY RESULTS: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

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1. Policy framework

• Broad policy commitment to the entrepreneurship education agenda in all EU Member States (MS)

• In 8 MS entrepreneurship education is not reflected in education strategies

• In 9 MS entrepreneurship education is not a priority of education policy

• Majority of MSs: EE is a medium-to-high priority of education policy... but there is a need to ensure more involvement and „buy-in” from education ministries

• most MS agree EE is an education policy priority• 1/3 MS believe that is not an education policy priority

at all

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2. Policy partnership

• In most MS examples of policy partnerships (integrated approach) have no direct link to entrepreneurship education or are project-based

• Some strong policy partnerships between relevant ministries and other stakeholders to promote entrepreneurship education exist in several Member States

• In majority only project-based partnerships (with a limited mandate and scope) or bodies with a much broader mandate (e.g. chamber of commerce; education institute) with only indirect (or negligible) links to EE

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3. National curriculum

• Integrating entrepreneurship as a key competence into education curricula is widespread

• BUT often through optional rather than compulsory subjects, and in some countries implementation has not yet begun or is project-based

• Although previous EU data (Eurydice, 2012) tell us that most EU countries have incorporated EE into primary and secondary curricula

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4. Eco-system approach

• Several MS complement their curricular approaches with policies to support entrepreneurial schools, teacher training and good practice exchange

• Many MS that promote entrepreneurship in the curriculum have not yet developed such complementary measures, so there appears to be a need to raise awareness of such an “eco-system” approach

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What is the eco-system approach?

Source: EC Thematic WG on Entrepreneurship Education, 2014 (p. 14)

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5. Monitoring

• Almost no Member States collect data on (or evaluate) how entrepreneurship education is implemented...

• ... but one Member State stands out as having a high quality evaluation system in place, and others have begun to plan this process

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Other notable findings

• Non-formal entrepreneurship education for groups such as the unemployed, women, youth or disadvantaged groups are completely separated from policies relating to entrepreneurship education in formal education, with no links or coordination made between these policies

• Practical entrepreneurial experience is available for students in many Member States through training in firms or cooperation with NGO’s

• There are a number of other innovative good practices in Member States such as local and regional entrepreneurship education initiatives, as well as the establishment of (or cooperation with) specialised non-profit organisations for entrepreneurship education

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RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND THE SME ENVOY NETWORK

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Recommendations (1)

1. Further strengthen the “key competence approach” to EE in national and school-level curricula in EU Member States

2. Move beyond curriculum specification to an “ecosystem approach” that supports schools and teachers to develop EE and fosters stakeholder involvement

3. Ensure that the EE ecosystems at the national level ensure full involvement of education ministries

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Recommendations (2)

4. Consider how to improve the „Open Method of Coordination” on EE between Member States through the platform of the SME Envoy Network

5. Consider how to strengthen EU-level expert support for the development of entrepreneurship education

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Some questions raised and discussion ongoing

1. How do we ensure full involvement of education ministries in EE?

4. Do we need to strengthen EU-level expert support for the development of EE?

5. How do we further strengthen the “key competence approach” to EE in national and school-level curricula?

6. How do we move beyond curriculum specification to an “ecosystem approach”?

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• For more details please check the full report at:

• http://www.seecel.hr/new-seecel-publication-on-entrepreneurship-education-in-the-eu

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Thank you for your attention!

Contacts:antonija.mrsic@minpo.hr

www.minpo.hr