The British Council in partnership with Victoria Mutual Foundation Limited and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MoEYI), will be delivering a three-year Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools Programme that was launched on March 12, 2018, at the Jamaica Pegasus. 

Six secondary schools – St. Elizabeth Technical High School, Montego Bay High School, Kingston Technical High School, Charlie Smith High School, Greater Portmore High School, and Denbigh High – have been selected to participate in the pilot programme which aims to increase student’s knowledge of social innovation and entrepreneurship. Using the British Council’s Social Enterprise in Schools Resource Pack, which also incorporates the British Council core skills, it is expected that this programme will help to address the gap in global skills development which is critical to meeting the needs of students in the 21st century in a globalised economy. In addition to the six core skills – Critical thinking and problem solving, Collaboration and communication, Creativity and imagination, Citizenship, Digital literacy, and Student leadership – the programme will also include financial literacy as the 7th core skill.

Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools Programme Launch
Charlie Smith High School, one of the six pilot schools in Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools Programme, delivered a well-received piece at the launch event.  ©

British Council
Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools Programme Launch
Lyndsey Hall (right), CEO of Real Ideas Organisation in conversation with (from left): Brigette Levy, Manager of the Victoria Mutual Foundation; Olayinka Jacobs-Bonnick, Country Director, British Council; Courtney Campbell, Chairman of Victoria Mutual Foundation; Valrie Jones, Board Member, Victoria Mutual Foundation; Sophia Forbes Hall, Senior Education Officer, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.  ©

British Council
Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools Programme Launch
The Denbigh High School had several brilliant suggestions for social enterprise projects.  ©

British Council

The programme will train four teachers from each selected school, in grades 7-9, in the social enterprise concepts, approaches and interactive techniques. This knowledge will then be cascaded to over 300 students in each school and will include activities such as field trips and be setting up an actual social enterprise with seed funding. As a result, students will be taught to develop an awareness and understanding of how starting their own business can help to address social problems and offer practical experiences in planning and setting up their own social enterprise.
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