Key Takeaways: How can school heads in Kenya equip students for the 21st century

School heads can;

1. Identify the entrepreneurial skills required for the 21st century i.e., innovation, problem-solving and communication skills. 

2. Impart entrepreneurial skills among students by introducing business writing projects and using suggestion boxes to help students become problem solvers.

3. Use the Kinetic entrepreneurship learning platform to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial skills among students.

 Equipping students for the 21^st century

The current unemployment rate in Africa is 35 percent. One of the ways to reduce this unemployment rate is to create jobs through the entrepreneurship sector. Unfortunately, there is a 70 percent failure rate among entrepreneurs who decide to erect their own businesses within the continent. These failures are attributed to a number of factors including entrepreneurs lacking the required skills to start, run and scale their businesses.

So, how do we change this narrative of unemployment and failed startups?

We do what all farmers do in order to get a bountiful harvest, we plant and nurture the seed of entrepreneurship among our young generation, students. 

This way, by the time students are entering the job markets and launching their startups, they possess entrepreneurial skills and mindsets. 

 Entrepreneurial skills needed for the 21^st century

A study published in the Research Gate identified crucial skills that professionals need in order to thrive in the current job market. They include;

• Being open to innovation and technology
• Becoming problem solvers
• Learning how to communicate one’s ideas

The researchers went a step further and identified specific skills that are integrated within these three generalized capabilities. They are; creativity, taking initiative, resilience, self-efficacy, strategic planning and evaluation, collaboration and networking, transformational leadership, pitching, and digital communication.

Teaching students these  entrepreneurial skills will allow our young generation  to identify opportunities and formulate relevant solutions / ideas that will best capitalize on these market gaps. Further, these skills will help them to move ideas from the ideation stage to a product or service that enters the market stage and thrives. Through these skills, they will be able to; 

• Identify the market they are addressing,
•  Know their target customers
• Learn how to validate their product or service 
• Position as well as establish a business.

So, how do you achieve all this?

Ways you can impart students with entrepreneurial skills for the 21^st century

Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset and developing entrepreneurial skills among students is not a task that happens overnight. It requires time, creativity, consistency, and expertise. Here are two ways you can impart entrepreneurial skills among your students;

 1) Take advantage of the suggestion box

Suggestion boxes in schools are meant to help students air their concerns about certain issues. Now, imagine if you introduced a problem-solution policy to this concept. For every issue a student brings forward, they have to provide a feasible solution to tackle it. You could even organize a forum where students get to pitch their solutions to you and the school board or teachers.

This way, students will learn how to effectively communicate their ideas from a young age and they will develop a problem-solving mindset as well as an innovative spirit. 

2) Business writing projects

One way of becoming an expert in a field is by emulating an expert in this said field. Icons like Michael B. Jordan, Nelson Mandela, Elon Musk, and Kipchoge have inspired millions of people across the world to strive for greatness in their respective fields.

To inspire and cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among your students, you can assign projects for them to analyze renowned entrepreneurial names and even TV shows like Shark Tank. Through writing reports for these projects, they will be able to learn how to grow entrepreneurial skills and navigate the business realm from these different entrepreneurs.

Clearly, entrepreneurial skills are a necessity in the 21^st-century economy. This year, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report ranked UAE, Netherlands, and Finland as the best nations for entrepreneurs to thrive.

How do we as a country arrive at this point? How do you as an educator contribute to building an environment for Kenyan entrepreneurs to thrive?

 In order to effectively impart entrepreneurial skills among your students, invest in Kinetic.

How Kinetic can prepare your students for the 21^st century

At Kinetic, we aim to impart students with entrepreneurial skills that will help them comfortably navigate the 21^st-century world, either as employees or as business founders.  Kinetic is an interactive and immersive online learning platform that is built on a tried and tested systematic entrepreneurship framework, which is broken down into practical modules for students. Our platform is designed to impart practical entrepreneurial skills among students at an early age.  

Additionally, we offer students an opportunity to listen to and learn from global leaders and entrepreneurs on how they leverage entrepreneurship skills to propel their journeys. The goal of these conversations is to expand the minds and thinking of students to seize opportunities around them right from an early age.

Why Kinetic entrepreneurship learning platform

Kinetic was established because we believe that; 

• There is a need for an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Entrepreneurship can be taught.
• Entrepreneurship is a viable career path.

We want to help your students gain the skills that they need to navigate the 21st century. 

Curious to learn how you can do more for your students in terms of developing their entrepreneurial mindset and skills? Visit our page or contact us at admin@kinetic.education.