Developing Business and Enterprise Skills Through Vocational Training in Schools and FE Institutions: the European model?

Abstract

Business and enterprise skills are essential for the future economic prosperity of any country, and many schools and colleges of Further Education in the UK run programmes or courses which specifically develop such skills. This article considers the current practices in the training of business awareness in some European countries and discusses an example of good practice — the Young Enterprise Europe scheme. The article concludes that there are a range of different methods for ensuring the development of business skills used within European countries, but there is no standard practice. The article argues that the Young Enterprise Europe programme could be launched throughout Europe to address such educational business development and proposes a model which is adapted from the Personal Effectiveness Model (Fennell, 1994). However, it concedes that further empirical research should be undertaken to draw more reliable conclusions.