Entrepreneurship classes for all high schools

Starting in September, entrepreneurship classes will become mandatory in all high schools.

State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green said this is oneof the major initiatives of the Government to revamp the education system to produce more rounded individuals.

"[We have] realigned our curriculum in what we now call the New Standards Curriculum to focus less on the passing of exams and more on the person we create at the end of the educational journey," he said.

He said that for a long time in Jamaica and across the Commonwealth, the educational system has focused on the "conveyor belt" approach, where students keep moving along the system regardless of the outcome of their schooling.

Green argued that this practice has to change in order to produce critical thinkers and individuals who are capable of creating sustainable, meaningful futures.

He said that a key part of this undertaking is to provide students with the tools to become self-sufficient through exposure to entrepreneurship principles.

The ministry has partnered with Junior Achievement Jamaica to incorporate the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs programme into the grade-nine curriculum.

The programme, which has already reached 40 schools, with another 80 high schools targeted in the new school year, provides hands-on experience in running a business, with students learning the fundamental skills necessary to create successful enterprises.