The Malta Independent on Sunday
Jaye Malta preps young entrepreneurs for May finals
By providing valuable entrepreneurship education to Malta’s young people, the Jaye Malta Foundation helps them to shape the future of Malta’s economy
Jaye Malta is preparing for the Jaye National Finals in May where the country’s youth will have a valuable opportunity to shine in the local and international business worlds.
The non-profit foundation specialises in providing high-quality entrepreneurship education programmes to young people aged eight to 30 who attend academic or vocational education institutions across Malta and Gozo. Through providing young people with the tools and the creative, time management and problemsolving skills essential to thrive in the working world, Jaye Malta aims to educate, empower and inspire them to transform their own future, as well as that of the country as part of the global business community.
With more than 8,500 students already having benefitted from Jaye Malta’s tailored programmes and over 430 mini companies created as a result, the Foundation’s ongoing success will this year culminate in the Jaye National Finals. Held in May, the event functions as the closing ceremony for multiple programmes, where student teams can present their work to an independent judging panel in preparation for similar European competitions and their achievements recognised through a series of awards.
“At Jaye, we believe that the future of Malta’s economy is in the hands of our youth, and so by preparing them to succeed in a global economy, we are investing in the country’s future,” says Jaye Malta CEO Fiona Captur. “For 30 years, Jaye Malta has delivered on its mission to inspire and prepare young people to excel through providing cutting edge programmes with speakers and mentors of the highest standard. As a member of a European and Global JA network, we are also best-placed to offer our young people the springboard they need to achieve their business goals on a global scale – and the National Finals represent their first leap in that direction.”
Once enrolled in a Jaye programme, participants form teams and are paired with a business mentor with whom they will work throughout the programme, and who will guide them through challenges, how to overcome obstacles and how to achieve their goals.
The National Finals in May will serve as the culmination of the Start-up and Company programmes. The Jaye Star-up programme helps University-level students kick-start their career by founding their own business and expanding their network. Running from October until May, students on the two-semester programme, establish a concept for a business idea, create and research a business plan and attempt to secure investment that could launch the business. At the National Finals, the 20 teams in this year’s programme will compete for the Starup of the Year award, with the winners receiving the lucrative opportunity to represent Malta at the JA Europe Enterprise Challenge in Greece in July.
The Company programme meanwhile offers Sixth Form students the knowledge and skills needed to create their own company from a business idea. The 12 teams on this year’s programme, who come from seven participating educational establishments across Malta, learn the required skills across three modules and connect with a massive network of business professionals both nationally and internationally. The programme’s final phase will be the National Jaye Malta Company of the Year competition held at the Finals, which will serve as a trial run for the JA Europe Company of the Year competition in July in Portugal.
Jaye Malta also provides other innovative programmes to inspire young entrepreneurs across the country. The Social Innovation Challenge is an intense, one-day experience in which Fifth Form students compete to propose the best solution to a social issue, while the Enterprise in Action programme helps 14-year-olds to understand how the free enterprise economic system works and the role of business in it. The Economics for Success programme likewise provides students aged 12-13 with practical information about personal finance and the importance of identifying education and career goals.
Even younger entrepreneurs can also take the first step into the business world at Jaye Malta. Students aged 11-12 can embark on the Europe My Business programme, which offers them insights into how businesses operate in Europe and how international economics impacts our lives. Finally, children as young as seven or eight years old will learn the importance of people in the community working together, and how this creates harmony, in the Jaye Our Community programme.
More information about Jaye Malta may be found on www.jayemalta.org