The government has announced a £30m cash injection into education for aspiring young entrepreneurs.
The news came during an announcement which saw Phones International Group founder, Peter Jones, reveal he will launch a National Enterprise Academy as part of a joint initiative with the government.
The extra funding, part of the government’s new Enterprise Strategy, will boost enterprise education, supporting its extension to primary schools and further education colleges.
The academy will offer a new qualification in enterprise for 16-19 year-olds, which will give them the ‘right skills’ to start their own business.
It will also have a broader remit of raising enterprise awareness ‘across the entire population and age range’, including encouraging more female entrepreneurs.
The first academy will open next year in the South East, followed by a second centre in the North West.
Last month, Peter Jones told startups he hoped the academy would present entrepreneurship as a viable career path for young people.
“This is going to be one of Britain’s first, what I would call, real enterprise academies,” he said.
During today’s announcement, he added: “There is a stark difference in the entrepreneurial mindset between the UK and the US. Here, there tends to be a ‘can I?’ approach, whereas in the US the ‘I can’ belief is instilled from an early age.
“If the UK economy is to continue to grow, we need to create the right learning environment for all our children, where their talents can be developed so they can go out into the workplace or business and prosper.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
