The Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria, (SMEDAN), said it has initiated the school’s enterprises development programme, with the core mission to deliver hands-on entrepreneurship and community service learning in primary and secondary schools across Nigeria.
According to the agency, the School Entrepreneurship Programme is set to provide access to functional and hands-on entrepreneurship and community service education to every primary and secondary school student in Nigeria so as to eliminate poverty, conflicts and massive youth unemployment.
Director General of the agency, Dr Dikko Radda, said in a statement that the participating schools will run a “School Bank” conducted by students and facilitated by participating commercial banks. This he said, will boost financial literacy and financial inclusion as well as spur investment culture in young people.
The SMEDAN DG said the move will create a network of leaders who will see the challenges in their communities as their responsibilities, with a view to addressing them.
He said the expected outcome in year one of the programme includes 370,000 pupils who will be directly impacted, 3,700 micro businesses and community service projects to be created by participating schools, and 5,000 teachers that will be trained on how to deliver hands-on entrepreneurship and community service education to students in primary and secondary schools.
Radda explained that 18,500 business and civic leaders will be recruited as Business Advisory Board Members thereby enhancing community participation, 370,000 students bank accounts that will be operated, 3,700 school enterprise bank accounts operated and 3,700 school banks”
According to him, the initiative of SMEDAN and SAGE Nigeria- SAGE-Students for the Advancement of Global of Entrepreneurship is an international programme initiated at the California State University Chico USA, and is currently operating in all the continents of the world.
He noted because the programme is a comprehensive national programme, that it will be coordinating its planning and activities with Office of the Vice President and various stakeholder-state governments, Federal Ministry of Education, Financial Institutions, public agencies and private sector organisations.
