Investigating and developing positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship among Secondary school children in the Western Cape
Loading...
Date
1997
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
It is a well known fact that the development of entrepreneurs will have a number of benefits for the economy of the country. In addition, entrepreneurship represents an important vehicle to address the challenges of job creation and equity in South Africa. Throughout the world, it has been shown that entrepreneurs are playinga crucial role in expanding the economies in innovative and creative ways. - It is the opinion of policy-makers that with the appropriate enabling environment, South African entrepreneurs can follow the examples of Malaysian and Taiwanese entrepreneurs and make their mark on this economy. It would be very naive to assume that entrepreneurship would solve most of the economic problems of South Africa. However, it could not be denied that it does have an important role to play. Given the historical background of South Africa and the consequences thereof namely. unemployment and low economic growth, it becomes clear that the country not only need more entrepreneurs, but a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurship among all communities. The question arises whether systems are in place to develop positive attitudes amongst all communities, particularly the youth. The Presidents Council's Report (1989) highlighted the inability of the current education system to promote entrepreneurship. It is in the light of the history of South Africa, as discussed above, that this study sets out to
investigate the attitudes and methods for developing positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship among school children in the Western Cape. The study also aims to assess the factors that have impacted on their attitudes. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used to get detailed "information on the perceptions and attitudes towards entrepreneurship. An exploratory study of available literature and focus group discussions established some key variables that impacted on the attitudes of pupils. In addition, personal and telephonic interviews were conducted with teachers to get their views and opinions on the findings of the survey.
Description
Magister Philosophiae - MPhil
Keywords
Curriculum, Africans, Bantus, Black, Coloureds, Entrepreneurship, Quantitative, Qualitative