GES Pilots Entrepreneurship Programme in Three Senior High Schools

A Ghana Education Service (GES) pilot is teaching senior high school students to start businesses. Organisers say the aim is to help young people create jobs rather than wait for them.

The National Entrepreneurship Programme for Senior High Schools (NEP-SHS) Pilot was the subject of the October edition of EdTech Mondays, a live radio discussion hosted by Bernard Avle, as reported by Citi News. Representatives of the programme joined private sector partners Kivo Gari and eCampus, along with students from Accra STEM Academy.

The programme is being tested at Accra STEM Academy, Achimota School and Wesley Grammar.

Bertha Amanor, Programme Coordinator of NEP-SHS, spoke about the need to change how the country thinks about education and work. According to the report, the goal is for every senior high school student to learn to spot problems in their community and develop solutions that can make money and grow, before they finish school.

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The curriculum is designed to fit into students' current timetables. It covers five areas: entrepreneurial mindset, financial literacy, product development, branding and launching an enterprise. Teachers are being trained to become certified "enterprise facilitators".

Students from Accra STEM Academy presented prototypes during the broadcast.

A team led by Nana Kwame Abedi Acheampong built the "Echovant" smart dustbin. It runs on solar power and has two compartments to separate waste. The bin has an LCD screen and Bluetooth connectivity to let users know when it needs emptying. The team says the design could be used in schools, hospitals and public places.

Another team, which includes student Edna Amofa, designed a solar-powered charging cabinet built like a set of lockers. The idea came from the difficulty of finding free power sockets on campus. According to the report, it can charge up to 24 devices at the same time and offers a locally made option in place of imported equipment.

Private companies are also involved. Cecil Senna Nutakor, founder of eCampus, said his platform has turned the entrepreneurship curriculum into short digital learning modules. He said the system tracks how students perform and cuts the time teachers spend grading. It also produces data that policymakers could use if they decide to expand the programme across the country.

Kivo Gari is mentoring students in areas including supply chain logistics and marketing. Talks are under way about internship placements for students, according to the report.

Details of plans to scale up the programme were not set out in the report. EdTech Mondays brings together educators, innovators, policymakers and industry figures on the last Monday of each month to discuss education in Ghana.