Entrepreneurship is key to creating healthy economic growth and funding public services through taxation. The private sector provides an environment for entrepreneurship to thrive; it is where we see large-scale innovation and risk-taking ventures. The majority of the UK labour force works in the private sector, so entrepreneurship and the benefits must be fully understood among the current and future labour force.
To maintain profitability and competition, private companies must be knowledgeable of innovation opportunities. Numerous examples of small companies transforming to large multinationals capable of contributing billions of pounds to the economy show the significance of innovation. Nevertheless, the smallest companies also hold great social value as they can boost local economies and offer employment.
According to the Department for Business and Trade, there are more than 5 million private companies in the UK. These private companies employ more than 27 million people. Larger companies usually hold around 47% of total turnover while smaller companies hold 35% (1). With these statistics in mind, it becomes clear that private companies have an important role in maintaining technological and business innovation.
Economic growth also has a knock-on effect for government spending, as higher economic growth means higher tax revenue that can be spent on services. These services benefit both people and businesses by providing a more educated, healthier and happier workforce.
Expanding entrepreneurship in the UK is vital to both public services and to economic growth more widely. In this article, we will look at why teaching entrepreneurship would be a valuable part of the education system.
The importance of entrepreneurship
We already know that entrepreneurship encourages economic growth, developing innovation within technology and creating new services and products. Some researchers consider entrepreneurship as self-employment (2), meaning the first job an entrepreneur creates is their own.
One example is Flavio Augusto da Silva, who began working as a salesman for English courses in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro when he was 19 years old. After four years, he launched his English school called Wise UP, which became one of the most valuable schools in Latin America. Here, a young man from the suburbs became a large employer through entrepreneurship. Wise Up provided a social benefit: there are people today who would not have their jobs or would not have learnt English in Brazil without it. This example of entrepreneurship benefited not only the entrepreneur but also reaped benefits for the wider society.
Even in the chaotic scenario of Poland after the disengagement from the Soviet Union, entrepreneurs were key to the maintenance of the new economic order. This economic order remained with accelerated growth in the years after the fall of the USSR. According to Culkin and Simmons (3), this scenario of Shock Therapy faced by Poland when leaving the USSR was possible to overcome because of the network of entrepreneurs that formed in the country before the detachment. Meanwhile, Russia itself, after the fall of the USSR, suffered more for not having a prepared private economic system for the aftermath.
Entrepreneurship means the freedom to enjoy innovative ideas and the ability to offer the resulting goods and services to generate income for the entrepreneur, workers, customers and public services. Ultimately, this can be considered, in most cases, a scenario where the majority gains.
The role of entrepreneurship education
Although entrepreneurship is important for society as a whole, it is also important to consider that creative and innovative companies cannot exist in an environment that has no incentives for their creation. In an environment where there is no education about entrepreneurship, economics, innovation and technology, there is a tendency to keep the private sector in the power of a few individuals. Meanwhile, other potential entrepreneurs do not feel empowered or prepared to start their businesses.
A course on entrepreneurship should be taught to secondary school students. Students should be able to understand the possible paths into work, including paths of entrepreneurship. Throughout their education, students realise that there are several options for future sources of income, such as jobs in the public sector, academic careers or as employees of a private sector company. However, the role of the entrepreneur, whilst not inferior or superior to these common roles, is often overlooked, but is necessary for the proper functioning of our economy and society. With this in mind, the risks involved with entrepreneurship should also be taught so that, from an early age, students understand that not all entrepreneurial life is perfect or profitable, but also has various challenges and difficulties.
Proposals
The following subjects should be in the secondary national curriculum:
Economics in the curriculum helps students to understand the dynamics of finances and markets. Everybody should know how to invest, including how to invest in the stock market, how to manage money and how to benefit from market dynamics. Understanding economics makes it easier to save funds from the costs of inflation and interest rates. It also ensures students know of the wider economic trends and can better understand government policy.
Lessons on the legal system within the UK and our laws also give students a better understanding of their rights. It also gives more people the opportunity to look at careers in law with the aim of opening law up to those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Finally, lessons on entrepreneurship are important to keep a healthy environment of entrepreneurship throughout the UK. This should give students an understanding of how to start a new business, where funding for these kinds of business can come from and different examples of successful entrepreneurs.
References
André is a bachelor in International Relations from the University of Brasília. He was also an intern at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil.
Madeline was our Deputy Director (Internal) and now works at the National Audit Office as an Audit Associate. She previously worked as a Political Researcher at Animal Think Tank and holds a degree in Economics, Politics, and International Relations from Lancaster University.
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