Educating entrepreneurs: Can in-school youth be taught to start a business? Evidence from South Africa

Building on ILOs “Know About Business” material a game based version called “Start-Up and Go” was developed for secondary schools in South Africa. This brief discusses the findings of an Impact Assessment done to provide new evidence about whether a package of dedicated experiential entrepreneurship education materials and teaching methods - designed to supplement a standard business studies curriculum - can improve entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions among learners, and increase the number of young people starting formal enterprises after school. After attending lessons over grades 10 to 12, secondary school students in South Africa viewed entrepreneurship more favourably, and were more informed about the feasibility of starting their own business upon graduation.