Brussels, 14/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - A study undertaken by the European network “Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise” (JA-YE) shows that the spirit of enterprise is not sufficiently developed in the European Union and that the Member States do not take sufficient account of this dimension in the programmes which they offer to young people. According to JA-YE, which present the results of “Enterprise 2010” on 6 October in Brussels, the penetration rate in terms of education on management methods is still too low in terms of the number of schools which provide this type of teaching, and also in terms of pupils. There is a real interest on the part of young people, the large majority of whom have a positive view of entrepreneurship. The study underlines the following aspects: - the majority of young people responded to the question of why they would choose to become entrepreneurs by saying that it would be to develop personally their own career (89%) or to be independent (83%); - 63% of those asked intended one day to become their own boss; - 62% think that being an entrepreneur does not require an "innate gift", but rather is possible for anyone who has the will to invest themselves in it; - 62% think that it is difficult to start their own business but 49% think that they have the capacity to succeed in spite of this; - 68% are aware of the risks involved in case of failure; - most young people think that their schools are aware of the need to offer management courses; - students in Western Europe are less optimistic for the future than those in Central and Eastern Europe (who have a greater thirst for knowledge on European affairs: 60% compared to 20% in Western Europe); - only 20% of students in the EU-15 think that the Member States care about what concerns them, compared to 50% for the new Member States and 60% for other countries in Central and Eastern Europe; - 78% of young people think that sustainable economic and social development comes through education and training.
“What is most striking in this study is the fact that it confirms that we have the human capacity, the spirit and the confidence which are necessary to achieve the Lisbon agenda. These resources are in our schools right now, and are waiting for us to give them to opportunity to realise their aspirations”, said Commissioner Günter Verheugen. “Education in entrepreneurship has an impact on the number of young people who choose later in life to start their own business”, added Gert Jan Koopman, the Director of the “industrial policy and economic reform” unit of DG Enterprise. Caroline Jenner from JA-YE Europe stressed that the “return on investment” in the education sector is always positive: “Countries which invest in appropriate forms of education and training show the highest rates of competitiveness and innovation”. The study questioned 10 434 young people from the 25 Member States. The majority were aged between 16 and 19 and 65% of them participate in educational programmes provided by JA-YE. (Info: http://www.ja-ye.org ).