How pupils can develop skills in finance, business
A few schools have implemented entrepreneurship programmes to develop pupils’ financial skills.
Students at the Cambridge International School in Dubai, for example, can join the school’s finance club or the Young Enterprise Challenge.
Lynda Fernandes, the faculty leader of business at Cambridge International School in Dubai, said: “The Cambridge International School is focusing on developing entrepreneurial and financial skills in order to prepare its pupils for their career paths. The Cambridge Finance Club aims to promote financial awareness where students use demo accounts to learn about foreign exchange fluctuations. A semester-long programme known as the Student Investor Challenge is conducted in which each team is given a fictitious sum of £100,000 to invest in FTSE100 companies in the UK Stock Exchange.”
“Additionally, the Young Enterprise Challenge provides a highly interactive way for students to develop key employability skills as participants try to make as much profit as possible (all of which is donated to charity) from an original investment of Dh20 only. Financial literacy empowers and equips students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to build a more secure future for themselves and their families.”
At the Gems FirstPoint School, on the other hand, students start to develop their enterprise and entrepreneurship skills from the foundation stage.
Jay Tostevin, vice-principal for the secondary school at Gems FirstPoint School, said: “In FS, students begin this journey in the Desert School, interacting in a range of activities designed to enhance the imagination that is so often at its peak when students start school but diminished in too many by the time they leave. Year 1-5 students have a dedicated enterprise lesson where creativity is encouraged, along with team work, communication, critical thinking, risk-taking, and resilience.”
“In year 6-7, a specialised design enterprise curriculum is in place, utilising the expertise of the design technology, computing, and business faculty. Students are actively innovative, undertaking projects where they design, brand, manufacture, and market products at the school. This leads into career pathways when students choose their electives for GCSE and A-Level study. Students can even choose to study the specialised subject of enterprise and entrepreneurship at post 16.”
Globalisation and technology have changed employment trends, he said. There are jobs now that did not exist five years ago, and a lot of businesses employ less than 10 people. The prospect of leaving the academe and working for one employer for an entire career is neither realistic nor is it what young people want, Tostevin said.
“As a school, we must provide a workforce that demonstrates the notion of the enterprising person; that is, people who are more flexible, creative, opportunity-seeking, achievement-oriented, and capable of taking initiatives. If we can achieve this, then we prepare our students for a successful future.”
As a school, we must provide a workforce that demonstrates the notion of the enterprising person.”
Jay Tostevin, vice-principal for the secondary school, Gems FirstPoint School