CURRICULUM specialists are to meet with representatives of the Young Entrepreneurs Association (YEA) to discuss the inclusion of entrepreneurship, or elements of it, in the curriculum of secondary and primary schools.

Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites gave the undertaking for an “early meeting” on the matter, as he addressed the YEA’s quarterly forum held July 15 at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica auditorium in Kingston.

The YEA is proposing that the subject ‘Entrepreneurship’ be introduced at the primary and secondary levels.

Chair of the group’s Public Policy and Advocacy Committee and treasurer, Andrae Blair, said the YEA is proposing the implementation of a “tiered system” involving various combinations of techniques, which would be applied at different levels.

“At the primary school level, we are proposing that a cross curricula approach be used…rather than explicitly introducing a subject called entrepreneurship. Objectives will form part of the values and competencies to be developed throughout all subjects and curriculum activities,” he said.

This method would see all the existing subject areas containing some fundamental elements of entrepreneurship.

At the secondary level, a two-tiered system is being proposed, whereby tier one would comprise forms one to three; and tier two, forms four and five. At the tier one level, entrepreneurship would be offered as a formal core subject.

For the tier two forms, the YEA is recommending that the subject be an elective, where students are allowed to choose whether they want to pursue it at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate level.

Blair said entrepreneurship education would result in a significant increase in the number of successful enterprises, resulting in a higher contribution to gross domestic product and employment rates by the micro small and medium enterprises sector.