Confidential make an effort schooling is at the split second in institution of higher education

All universities in the Netherlands now offer entrepreneurship education, and from next year it will be compulsory in vocational schools, said project manager Dr. Peter Gibbous. But the content varies greatly between institutions and faculties - and that's too long to integrate entrepreneurship education into the curriculum.

Gibbous researcher for Panetta, a Dutch company with 150 employees that provides support to decision makers and carried out research in the economic, social and traffic areas for national and international clients. Headquartered in the Netherlands, in Zoetermeer, Panetta also has offices in Belgium, Turkey, China and Kazakhstan.

It is exposure to the South African Technology Network Eighth Annual International Conference on the 2015 "Education for entrepreneurship for economic reconstruction", held in the Science Park in the Vaal University of Technology from October 19 to 21

Entrepreneurship is desirable

According to Euros tat data, said Gibbous, across Europe there are low proportions of young people aged 15 to 19 who were self-employed in relation to total employment, with the most entrepreneurial young Italians either by necessity or nature.

In 2014 in Italy, 15% of young people in this age group are self-employed versus 8% in Europe and in the Netherlands - where the share is slowly rising in the past decade - and only 3% in Germany.

It seems there is a lot more young people to consider a career as an entrepreneur would be desirable, but who are self-employed.

Again drawing in FIGS Euros tat, in 2012 in Europe, 49% of people between 15 and 34 is considered a desirable entrepreneur, compared with 63% in Italy, 31% in the Netherlands, and 24% in Germany.

Some research results

Gibbous reported Panetta many research projects on entrepreneurial education between 2009 and 2015, mainly for the Dutch ministries, but also for the European Commission and others, including the evaluation of initiatives and the impact of business centers.

Among other things, the survey revealed that the Dutch higher education are more and more institutions that offer education, entrepreneurship and more integration of entrepreneurship education in the curricula.

But it turns out, Gibbous said at the conference that "a lot of work to be done."

"We see that entrepreneurial education is more integrated into the curricula of schools and the strategies and recognition of universities and other institutions."

"There are some difficulties, because the curricula vary much by institutions and universities. Some offer entrepreneurship education as a major, others offer it in the minors, others offer only as extra-curricular activities, and some offer it in summer schools and master classes, or entrepreneurs mostly students.

"We do not even notice that it is important to teach the teachers. Teachers are role models - it's entrepreneurs who are role models - so if you want to transfer entrepreneurial knowledge to the students, then teachers need to be enterprising.

"We have also noticed that some institutions of higher education in our country selecting teachers on the basis of their entrepreneurial skills. So that's another way of thinking that has become important in the last two or three years."

It took a long time to integrate entrepreneurship education into the curricula, due to budget constraints and the reluctance of academics to change or to collaborate across disciplines. The institutions are still struggling with this, in the Netherlands, and probably elsewhere, said Gibbous.

It is becoming more and more students participating in entrepreneurship education. Currently 5% of all higher education students in the Netherlands in some way involved in entrepreneurship training. There is also more attention to entrepreneurial skills - not just about entrepreneurship or become a start-up - "that is a shift in our country."