Does your child want to be an entrepreneur? A survey revealed 63% of Laois children said that they would like to be an entrepreneur in the future.
This survey was done after 8000 Primary School students spent 12-16 weeks starting their own classroom businesses as part of the Junior Entrepreneur Programme for 2019.
During the programme, children in 700 classes were mentored by local entrepreneurs.
Each child invested some of their own money and was rewarded with a share of their business’ profits.
This year classroom businesses had profits of €320,264 in 2019 producing a net profit of €198,215.
“At 11 or 12 years of age children get a chance to learn about entrepreneurship, meet entrepreneurs in their local area and each child comes up with a business idea in 12 weeks. They learn fast when they are talking about their own money” according to Tweak.com founder, entrepreneur Jerry Kennelly, who leads the programme and whose company sponsors JEP.
The survey reported a strong message from the 365 teachers surveyed was that setting up a classroom business was enjoyed by pupils.
99% of teachers reported that the children enjoyed the experience, while 96% reported that the programme was beneficial to the pupils.
Signup has opened for the 2020 Junior Entrepreneur Programme, which is free of charge to pupils and schools. Teachers can sign up here until October 4th.
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