PROMOTING THE CULTURE OF ENTREPRENEURSIDP: THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL

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CHAPTER3 PROMOTING THE CULTURE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP: THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION

It has been demonstated in chapter one that the number one problem facing South Africa todate is the high level of unemployment. The 1memployment problem largely affects the youth who have graduated from tertiary institutions and those who have left school Chapter two exposed the ooncepts entrepreneurship and the entrepreneur as well as important aspects such as the character tmits ofan entrepreneur~ en1:repJ:enemshp skills, various reasons for starting a business enteiprise~ the problems that hinder entrepreneurship and the role of two important stakeholders in promoting entrepreneurship~ namely: government and family.
Consistent with one of the aims of the study as stipulated in chapter one the current chapter seeks to explore the whole concept of entrepreneurship education. Here the emphasis will be placed on how to bring about or promote the culture of entrepreneurship (enterprise) through education. The various ways of cultivating entrepreneurship culture at school level will be the central focus of the discussion. The following areas will be investigated: career guidance~ teacher training~ the importance of role models, school-community link, extra-curricular activities, conten~ approach and teaching strategies.
Before delving much into the role of the school (primary and secondary education) in fostering entrepreneurship culture, an important concept, namely: relevant education, will be defined. An attempt will be made to bring to light through literature study what relevant education entails with a view to finding the place of entrepreneurship education within the whole debate of what constitutes relevant education
Finally, an overview ofthe ongoing cmriculmn change taking place in the South African education system will be highlighted. Brief discussions of the objectives, principles, content and approach of the new cuniculum, Cmriculum 2005, which is currently being implemented in all South African schools, will be outlined. An attempt will be made to show the place of entrepreneurship education in the new system.

RELEVANT EDUCATION

Since independence from colonial rule countries in the eastern, central and southern African regions have made innovative attempts to restructure their education and training systems in order to keep pace with the changing needs of their respective countries. However, the challenge has been and remains that the bulk of primm:y and secondary schoolleavers cannot readily find paid employment as was the case during the colonial era (King 1989:2).
The primm:y provider of jobs during the colonial era was the modem formal sector. The formal sector is generally associated with large scale investment, modem technology and high productivi1y, well-developed infrastructure, salaried and waged employment. Its purpose, it is argued, was not to cater for and absoib the entire society, but it was intended to « disrupt traditional economies and create a dependency on paid labour » (Van Rensburg 1991:29).
Therefore the challenge that is facing our country and indeed the entire southern African region is to break away from education for dependency to education for independence. It means that the goal ofeducation must shift from education for employment to education for self-employment (or education for entrepreneurship). The failure of an education system to meet this cballenge will render it not only irrelevant to the needs of its target population, but also of very little use to the socio-economic development of individual countries and to the region as a whole. The call for a relevant education system is therefore a serious and an urgent one as we enter the 21st century.
The cbal1.enges that face education systems world-wide are em.ormous. Among others, education systems must grapple with the fast changing and developing technology, globalisation, economic depression and volatile economic markets, human resource developmen~ retrenchments and downsizing or outsourcing and the resultant lack of new job opportunities and job security. Education systems a:re therefore required to respond to these challenges, as posed by the changes that accom.pmy the new cen:tmy, in the most effective and active ways. Hence the need for relevant education.
Upon a thorough investigation and analysis ofthe concept ‘relevant education’ it becomes clear that it is not easy to arrive at a single, simple and comprehensive definition. As evidence will show in the next paragraphs, the concept ofrelevant education means different things to different people. Although there is no general consensus as to what relevant education entails, it is, however, encoumging to note that there is a felt need by most countries to realign, restructure and redirect their educ’41ion systems towards a more useful end. Hence the continuous and constant search for a more relevant and useful system.
Before attempting to define the concept at hand it is useful to start by pointing out some ofthe most important and common criticisms that are levelled against the conventional education system

READ International trade in intermediate goods only

Criticisms levelled against formal schooling

The first criticism which is levelled against conventional formal school education relates to its isolation from the real life experiences of the community it purports to serve (Van Rensburg 1991:31).
The second criticism is that conventional school education is highly abstract, theoretical and verba.1ised. It thus lacks practical significance. Preference is placed on humanistic education over manual, technical and scientific training (Irizany 1980:338; Van Rensburg 1991:31; Vosloo 1993:102).
The third criticism is that traditional school education encourages passive receiving ofleaming content and memorisation by learners. The teacher, not the Ieamer, is placed at the centre and his role is to dispense knowledge to the passive audience, the learners (Van Rensburg 1991 :31 ). Rote 1eaming is regarded as one of « the most ftmdamental causes of academic and career performance and lack of self-sufficiency » (McMillan 1989:6).
The fourth criticism concems the underlying goal of the traditional education system which is to prepare learners for jobs in the fonnal sector at the time when job opportunities are not increasing at the same pace as the growth in the school system. Schoolleavers generally have unrealistically high expectations of access to high-paying, white-collar positions in commerce and industty. The upshot ofthe whole process is the oversupply of educated manpower which in tum results in the promotion of rural-urban migration of the educated groups. Hence the saying that traditional education is education-for-unemployment (cf Irizany 1980:343; Van Rensburg 1991:31; Visser & Huckle 1992:4 ).
The fifth criticism relates to the failure of schools to impart those skills that are required in the world of WOik Conventional education is being criticised for its skill and value orientation which channels learners into becoming job seekers rather than preparing them to undertake self-employment or entrepreneurial ventures by which they could create new job opportunities. Thus the whole aim of education is to produce future employees rather than future employers (Irizarry 1980 :343). Kourilsky (1995:12) refers to education which is oriented toward the « take-a-job » mentality. He further indicates that this type ofeducation « conveys in both content and attitude that the student is being prepared for a job that someone else has already created ».
Judging from the performance of learners, employers are also generally dissatisfied with the quali1yofscbool education. Badenhorst (in Taunyane 1994:7) points out some of the complaints of employers as follows:

the writing of pupils is illegible
their mathematical skills are sub-standard
poor vocabulary
children are not able to work in groups
children cannot communicate
According to Stone (1991:47) « students who finish high school with mmimal reading, maths and communications skills will not be able to work effectively as part of the team, open:tte sophisticated machinery, solve problems, or take initiative … » The qualities that employers are looking for in their recruits as identified by Banham ( 1989: 11) include adaptability, the capacity to use knowledge to solve problems, seJf-reliance, the ability to read, write, speak fluently and use figures, screen and keyboard skills and the need to work as part of a team.
1he final criticism levelled against conventional fonnal education is its failure to prepare learners for life outside the formal sector, or self-employment creation (Van Rensburg 1991 :31 ). Having highlighted some ofthe critical chmges levelled against the traditional system of education, the next task is to undertake an investigation of the concept ‘relevant education’.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 General orientation
1.2 Problem statement
1.3 Aims ofthe study
1.4 Research method
1.5 Defmitions of important concepts
1.6 Research programme
1.7 Summary
CHAPTER2 ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE ENTREPRENEUR
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Entrepreneurship
2.3 The entrepreneur
2.4 Summruv
CHAPTER3 PROMOTING THE CULTURE OF ENTREPRENEURSIDP: THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Relevant education
3.3 Entrepreneurship education
3.4 Entrepreneurship culture
3.5 Cuniculum 2005
3.6 Summaty
CHAPTER4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND :rviETHODOLOGY
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Choice of approach
4.3 The role of the researcher
4.4 The researcher’s background
4.5 Researcher’s values
4.6 Working experience and current position
4.7 Researcher’s assumptions
4.8 Data gathering technique
4.9 Establishing rapport with informants
4.10 Selection of informants
4.11 Interviews
4.12 Reliability and validity
4.13 Data analysis
CHAPTERS Tiffi ROLEPLAYED BY THE SCHOOL IN PREPARING SCHOOL LEA VERS FOR SELFEI\ t1PLOY1\IIENf: A QUALITATIVE ENQUIRY
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Profiles of the informants
5.3 Presentation and discussion of key themes
5.4 Summary of collected data
CHAPTER6 SUM:MARY, RECOlvfl\A.ENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Restatement of the purpose of the study
6.3 Sl.liillllaiY of research findings
6.4 Recommendations
6.5 Limitations of the study
6.6 Suggested topics for further study
6.7 Conclusion