The question is repeatedly asked, “does Barbados have an entrepreneurial economy?” The candid response from many in academia, policy and even business, is a resounding NO. The research is overwhelming and suggests that entrepreneurship underpins the transformation we seek as a new republic. Equally significant is that education will be the catalyst to drive this transformation.
It can therefore be surmised that the current national discussion around education reform lacks the depth and comprehensive approach needed to create that entrepreneurial ecosystem to drive the new Barbados. The late Nelson Mandela opined that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. What better time therefore to convert this former colony, once reliant on a monocrop economy, into a vibrant and globally competitive republic, than now.
The 2024 edition of CEOWORLD Magazine listed the top ten Most Entrepreneurial Countries in the world as follows: United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Spain, Sweden, India and France.
In the Caribbean, Jamaica is posited as the most entrepreneurial country in the region.
It can be opined that the tenets of the Babson College model for an entrepreneurial ecosystem are evident in these countries. Further still, is the focus on the human capital development or more so the quality of the educational infrastructure. The promotion of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, robotics, financial literacy, commerce, are but a few of the subject areas needed to be embedded in our curricula from early on.
Even the United Kingdom, which can be credited with the system of education in the Anglophone countries, has embraced more progressive strategies. One such initiative called Social Enterprise in Secondary Schools and introduced by the British Council in 2018 focused on the teaching of social business concepts and skills. The project was designed to close the gaps in the school-to-work transition by encouraging students to think creatively and entrepreneurially about solving their employment problems. One of the programme’s primary skills was financial literacy.
Jamaica also introduced a similar programme amongst its high schools in 2018, to provide entrepreneurship programmes as part of the government’s education reform initiative. Rather than emphasising exam passing, the new standards curriculum aimed to develop more well-rounded individuals.
The programme attempted to provide students practical experience managing a business as well as the essential skills needed for profitable enterprises. The knowledge and hands-on training would provide students a feasible choice between pursuing entrepreneurship as their primary source of income or as a means of supplementing it while working in their specialised fields of study.
This latter initiative is akin to the Small Business Association’s Enterprise in Action Youth programme started in a number of secondary schools in 2009 and designed to help fourth and fifth formers to understand the entrepreneurial world and to think entrepreneurially. Unfortunately, this has not pivoted to the national level and incorporated in the overall educational product.
Martin Lackeus (2015) argues that the perception of entrepreneurship as a key driver of economic growth and job creation is the most frequent justification offered by scholars and experts for the support of entrepreneurial education. Additionally, it is common to view entrepreneurial education as a response to the world currently and in the future, which is becoming more globalised, uncertain, and complex, and necessitates that all individuals and organisations in society possess an increasing level of entrepreneurial competencies. Entrepreneurial education has been positioned as a way to enable individuals and groups to produce social value for the public good because of the role entrepreneurship can play in tackling significant societal challenges.
In the words of Rob May in his article on Entrepreneurship in Schools (2021), young people all across the world are choosing careers in entrepreneurship, with 33 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 aiming to launch a firm in the next three years. These goals have been accelerated by the worldwide pandemic, as conventional labour market institutions are disintegrating.
Employers are looking for workers that have an entrepreneurial mindset as businesses and marketplaces adjust to the COVID-19 legacy. Workers who can recognise fresh chances and overcome obstacles will command a higher salary from employers. The majority of young people do not think about entrepreneurship until after they graduate from college because business education is not given much attention in curricula and schools. Though not everyone is born with a talent for business, research shows a favourable correlation between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial activities.
May (2021) proffers there are two main benefits to teaching entrepreneurship early. First, the knowledge gained allows students to build on this at a later stage in their lives. Secondly, entrepreneurship education has a greater effect on the growth of non-cognitive skills. It was found that while academic
benefits fade, the non-cognitive benefits including teamwork, self-esteem, and self-confidence stay with students for their lifetime.
In Barbados’ education reform agenda, more attention is needed at preparing citizens for a globally competitive world and pivoting this new republic to be a socially just, inclusive and progressive nation able to produce and earn sustainably. This necessitates a rethinking of how we are educating and developing our young people. The curriculum, testing methodologies and overall performance indicators have to be transformed. The Ministry of Education has a sacred responsibility to lead this change of transformation, hopefully this can begin with embracing the right vision.
The Small Business Association of Barbados (www.sba.bb) is the non-profit representative body for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
