The Sunday News
Loveness Mpofu, Sunday News Reporter
BULAWAYO’S Eveline High School won the 2017 Best Business Idea award at the Global School Enterprise Challenge.
Eveline High School outshined 6 000 schools from over 110 countries that took part in the challenge. The Global School Enterprise Challenge is an international programme that challenges learners and teachers to plan, set up and run a school business.
The programme was established in 2011 by a British charity organisation, Teach A Man To Fish. The business mentor for the school’s Junior Achievement Club, Mr Jobert Ngwenya was elated at scooping the prestigious accolade.
He said the feat attained by Eveline High School was an indication that schools are potential entrepreneurship hubs.
“As educators and mentors, we have a great job of mopping the future for our learners. If entrepreneurship would be integrated more into our education system as per the dictates of the revised national curriculum, the country will not have a high unemployment rate as school leavers will set up their enterprises and be employers themselves,’’ said Mr Ngwenya.
The pupils that won the award were the brains behind an initiative called XpreXions Unlimited.
XpreXions Unlimited is a talent identification and development agency whose main objective is to create a platform for learners to gain global recognition by showcasing their talents in and outside the classroom.
Mr Ngwenya said three former pupils of the 2016 Eveline High School’s Junior Achievement Club were already running their own enterprises.
Teach A Man To Fish chief executive officer Mr Nik Kafia said: “We are on a mission to tackle youth unemployment and the ‘learning crises’. The impact shown by these winners reminds us why it is so important to give young people the skills and experience to become the job creators of tomorrow.” @lvydvy1
