Enterprise Education and Venture Initiative in Developing Entrepreneurial Potentials

Abstract

The development of entrepreneurial potentials is important to sustaining a competitive advantage among people coexisting in innovative environment. Quality entrepreneurship education and training seem to be a mechanism in promoting and encouraging entrepreneurial potentials among youth in schools. However, identifying and nurturing these potentials can contribute immensely for the development of entrepreneurial skills to sustaining economic growth and development. This research investigates the effect of enterprise education in arousing entrepreneurial spirits among pre-tertiary level students. Ten public secondary schools in Gombe metropolis Nigeria were examined to identify students who started a given form of business after graduation; students that graduated ten years ago from 2000-2010 was sampled. The study examined among non-science based students that had entrepreneurship related subjects and the science based students that had not. The study observed that entrepreneurship education can influence psychological attributes commonly associated with entrepreneurship spirit. Further reveals that secondary school students with entrepreneurship or related knowledge have higher achievement motivation and creativity for starting a business than their counter part without it. The study recommends that there is need to include a compulsory entrepreneurship subject in the secondary school curriculum.