Include entrepreneurship in high school curriculum--Villar

Senator Cynthia Villar wants to include entrepreneurship in high school curriculum, being a "key driver" of our economy.

"Wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small businesses started by entrepreneurially-minded individuals," said Villar.

She said people exposed to entrepreneurship frequently express that they have more opportunity to exercise creative freedoms, higher self-esteem, and an overall greater sense of control over their own lives.

"As a result, many experienced business people, political leaders, economists, and educators believe that fostering a robust entrepreneurial culture will maximize individual and collective economic and social success on a local, national, and global scale," she said.

She noted that the inclusion of entrepreneurship in the curriculum of our students will allow for all these benefits to be reaped by the future generations, paving the way for our economy to flourish and emerge to become one of the leading economies in Asia and the world.

The proposed subject shall include the entrepreneurial subject matters like management, fund sourcing, program accreditation and requirements and contemporary entrepreneurial practices.

The subject shall be engulfed with values and skills-formation aspects of the making of an individual entrepreneurship aside from being attuned to the current policy of industrialization and global competitiveness.

She said the Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary shall appoint a Head Subject Specialist from the Bureau of Secondary Education who shall be the lead person in coordinating all activities necessary for the development and implementation of entrepreneurship in secondary level.

To determine the appropriate content and scope of the proposed subject, Villar said the Head Subject Specialist shall conduct a multi-sectoral consultation with educators from public and private high schools, members of the national chambers of commerce and industry, leadingentrepreneurs and the public at large.

In seeking for the urgent passage of her bill, entitled "An Act requiring inclusion ofentrepreneurship as a separate subject in the high school curriculum", Villar believes Filipinos have the potential to reach these heights.

She related that entrepreneurship education in other countries starts as early as elementary school and progresses through all levels of education, including adult education.

Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting new organizations or revitalizing mature organizations, particularly new businesses generally in response to identified opportunities.

She said entrepreneurial activities are substantially different depending on the type of organization that is being started.

However, she conceded that entrepreneurship, which ranges in scale from solo projects (even involving the entrepreneur only part-time) to major undertakings creating many job opportunities, is often a difficult undertaking as gleaned from several new businesses that fail.

Because of this, she said one should be fully equipped before embarking on becoming anentrepreneur.

She related that their family's real estate business started as a 'gravel and sand' business personally managed by her husband, former Sen. Manny Villar.