UNCTAD asks Ghana to embed entrepreneurship in educational curriculum
Ms Fiorina Mugione, Chief Entrepreneurship Adviser at United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), on Friday advised the Government to include entrepreneurship into the basic school curriculum.
She explained that perceptions and attitudes about entrepreneurship starts at a young age, hence the need to teach simple accounting skills and financial management in the primary schools.
Ms Mugione gave the advice at a meeting jointly organised by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and UNCTAD at Akosombo in the Eastern Region.
The meeting which was part of a programme for stakeholders to dialogue on Ghana’s economy discussed papers and made recommendations on innovative and practical ways of economic transformation and diversification in Ghana.
Ms Mugione said most parents in Ghana and other developing countries saw entrepreneurship as a second option, adding: “Many parents want their children to become doctors, lawyers, engineers but usually do not encourage their children to start their own businesses.”
She said the education system as it was now was sometimes divorce from the business needs of the society hence the educational system always encouraged people to become employees for others.
Touching on vocational education, Ms Mugione said there is the need for Ghana to teach entrepreneurship in vocational schools so that the students could learn how to become self-employment, subcontracting and small businesses in all fields.
The UNCTAD Entrepreneurship Adviser said even at the University level, entrepreneurship education should not be limited to those at the business school alone since nursing students and others studying the other sciences could also become entrepreneurs in their fields of study.
Ms Mugione said UNCTAD is committed to help developing countries mainstream entrepreneurship into the national strategy.
She commended Ghana’s private sector development strategies, stressing that there are still gaps that needs to be filled in regards to incorporating entrepreneurs into the strategy.
Ms Mugione said sometimes the attention of policy makers are diverted from long term goals to short term ones and urged policy makers to keep in mind long term goals while working with the short term.
“If we learn to include entrepreneurship as one of the focus areas of our national development strategies it would be more successful,” she emphasised.
Nii Ansah Adjei, Chief Director of Ministry of Trade and Industry, said Ghana is on course to ensure that the country’s development needs are met.
Source: GNA