The EU pushes to boost entrepreneurial skills in schools, but a new report shows most countries still lack a true whole-school approach.
In the Union of Skills, the EU’s framework for education and skills policy published in March this year (see SwissCore article), the European Commission (EC), states that “Europeans lack the necessary financial and entrepreneurial skills to invest more and to launch and grow successful startups. This significantly limits the innovation and growth potential of the EU.” This apparent lack of relevant competences exists despite the EU’s 25-year history of emphasising the importance of entrepreneurship education as a driver for competitiveness for society and personal growth for the individual through a series of strategic documents. A new EC report based on Eurydice data now sheds light on the current state of entrepreneurial education across 38 European school systems, including Switzerland.
As outlined in EntreComp, the EU’s entrepreneurship competence framework adopted in 2016, entrepreneurial education is defined as the ability to turn ideas into action that generates values for others. It is often understood as a transversal competence with relevance across many contexts beyond closing the innovation gap, including the green and digital transition. The report considers whether and how entrepreneurship education is anchored in national strategies, initiatives and reforms, as well as in school curricular and teacher education. It finds that most education systems have a strategy in place that considers entrepreneurial skills, although most often (20 out of 38 countries), these skills are embedded in a broader strategy framing relevant competences for the 21st century. Strategies specific to developing pupil’s entrepreneurial skills are more rare (5 out of 38 countries). Additional to strategy documents, specific initiatives that are tied to dedicated funding and resources, for instance the organisation of competitions or partnerships with industry, are leveraged across Europe to infuse entrepreneurial spirit into school systems. National reforms embedding these competences in curricula are particularly widespread. In Switzerland, for example, the ‘Economy and Law’ subject has been made mandatory and now emphasises competences such as idea pitching and teamwork, alongside understanding economic concepts.
Entrepreneurship is largely treated as a set of transversal competences and is therefore predominantly (75% of surveyed countries) implemented through a cross-curricular approach, meaning across various subjects and school activities. However, the report highlights the nuances of teaching entrepreneurship: While EntreComp distinguishes 15 competences, the report focuses only on a subset consisting of six skills, ranging from ‘financial and economic literacy’ to broader skills such as ‘opportunity spotting’ and ‘dealing with risk’. The authors find that most national curricula plans are limited to a narrower financial understanding of entrepreneurship. Switzerland stands out as one of the few countries that teaches entrepreneurial ‘vision’ across all school levels. Classroom teaching is further supplemented in many European countries through practical experiences, such as project based work, although these tend to be limited to extracurricular offerings rather than compulsory activities. Further limiting progress, entrepreneurship remains largely absent from teacher competence frameworks across Europe. All in all, Europe seems to still have a long way to go before it attains what the report calls a ‘whole-school’ approach to entrepreneurship: One where classroom teaching is supported by an enabling environment for competence development.
Entrepreneurship is not the only transversal competence emphasised by the EC through latest publications. Along with it, citizenship education, defined as “the ability to act responsibly and participate fully in civic life, grounded in an understanding of social, economic, legal and political structures”, has recently received more interest, most notably by being featured as a proposed new basic skill in the recently launched Action Plan on Basic Skills. Like entrepreneurship, citizenship competences are intended to prepare young people to react to complex global challenges, both through embedding it in classroom teaching, as well as through practical activities (see eTwinning report). While questions remain about how best to quantify and assess such competences, it is increasingly clear that European education systems are evolving to prepare learners for the demands of the 21st century, fostering skills that transcend disciplines and professions.