Entrepreneurial Awareness among High School Learners: Case Study of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality

Abstract

Much has been written and said about the importance of entrepreneurship being taught as an academic course; however action is far from being visible. The maxim: catch them young, forms the crux of this papers argument. This paper is to an extent motivated, among other things by some of the GEW (2009) Report’s Key Discussion Points namely: South Africa’s entrepreneurial activity is improving but still lags behind; Entrepreneurial skills are severely lacking; and that corporate careers are still more desirable in South African Society. This study aimed to discover to what extent students acknowledge entrepreneurship as a career choice. Descriptive research in this study established the Entrepreneurial awareness among high school leavers in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Teachers are playing a prominent role in disseminating information about entrepreneurship to high school learners. This is a great testimony to the role of hidden curricula. It is crucial then that teachers in the meantime (while entrepreneurship education is to be formalised) receive entrepreneurship education so that they will be able to inform well the learners. This applies to parents who also engage high school students in entrepreneurship discussions.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n8p146