The British Council and the Victoria Mutual Foundation Ltd. have recently entered into a joint partnership, to deliver the Social Enterprises in Secondary Schools Programme, which is set to be implemented over 3 years, starting in March 2018. In this rollout phase, 24 grade 7-9 teachers, from 6 schools across the island, will be trained to deliver the British Council’s Social Enterprise in Schools Resource pack, to 300 students.
The pack will be adapted to suit local needs and will include a financial inclusion, upliftment and literacy component, which will be delivered by the Victoria Mutual Foundation. This variation of the pack, builds on the British Council model of Social Enterprise Education in Schools, using a core skills development approach. In total, over the 3 years, the programme will reach 8,000 students from grades 7 to 9 and 100 teachers from 20 schools, island wide.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, this project seeks to address the noted school to work transition gaps, through the teaching of social enterprises concepts and skills. It will support the youth to develop skills that motivate them to consider entrepreneurial solutions to their employment concerns. The programme will empower the students to become agents of change, by using the concepts taught to them to develop social enterprises, with the support of Vitoria Mutual Foundation mentors and volunteers, in secondary schools and in their communities.
Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools Programme is designed to increase the student’s knowledge of social innovation and entrepreneurship, whilst also developing core skills for learning, life, and work. The Social Enterprise in Schools Resource pack has been designed based on 6 core skills, identified by the British Council, which help to address the gap in global skills development and are critical to meeting the needs of students in the 21st century in a globalised economy. In addition, the 6 British Council core skills listed below, on which the social enterprise training is based, the 3-year programme will also include financial literacy as the 7th core skill. The six British Council core skills are:
1. Critical thinking and problem solving
2. Collaboration and Communication
3. Creativity and imagination
4. Citizenship
5. Digital Literacy
6. Student Leadership and personal development
The training will introduce secondary school teachers in grades 7-9 to new social enterprise concepts, approaches, and interactive techniques while helping to develop plans and practical activities for use in the classroom. As a result, students will be encouraged to develop an awareness and understanding of how business can help to address social problems and practical experience in planning and setting up their own social enterprise business.
