A Pilot Action on Entrepreneurship Education: High Level Reflection Panel

The Fifth Entrepreneurship Education High Level Reflection Panel was held in Zagreb, 18-19 March. Hosted by the Croatian government (the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports), the panel was jointly organized by the European Commission (DG Enterprise and Industry and DG Education and Culture) and the European Training Foundation. The panel comprised all EU pre-accession countries countries and a selection of countries from the EU Southern Neighbourhood region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244/99), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and three countries from the EU Southern Neighbourhood region (Egypt, Israel and Tunisia).
In her opening remarks, Madlen Serban, Director of the European Training Foundation, outlined how entrepreneurship education was now very much in the EU policy agenda set against a wider concern for better interfaces between education and the economy. She, too, emphasised that the objective of entrepreneurship education went beyond business creation and how the entrepreneurship key competence was essential for promoting a wider, more entrepreneurial workforce. Dr. Serban underlined that the entrepreneurship education developments needs to be set against a wider objective of bridging the divide between education and the economy and where ETF was already working with all countries represented on the Panel (Torino Process). She concluded by underlining the opportunity of the fifth Panel delegation in identifying common concerns for more strategic developments in entrepreneurship education and exchange of good practice amongst the eleven countries represented on the Panel.
Good Practice 2: Entrepreneurship in higher education – national policy and institutional case study
Key issues highlighted in the presentation to the Panel include:
Policy Developments
• Sfax University’s ‘entrepreneurship centre’ whose mission is to promote an entrepreneurship culture across the university had generated a policy response with all Tunisian universities required by national decree (2008) to establish similar entrepreneurship support centre;
• all universities required by national decree (2008) to provide entrepreneurship education to all third-level students;
• Ministry of Higher Education and university establishment have established a new contractual relationship for enhancing third-level education, which includes the promotion of entrepreneurship education.
Institutional Developments
• the establishment of a dedicated entrepreneurship centre at Sfax University tasked with ensuring a concerted development of entrepreneurship promotion across the campus;
• training of academic staff central to the centre’s activities with training provided by national and international authorities on entrepreneurship education;
• elaboration of across-campus entrepreneurship curriculum and development of a new masters level programme in entrepreneurship, including pedagogic and assessment instruments;
• introduction of impact indicators and student tracking systems to determine value and implications of the university’s entrepreneurship education drive.
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