It is not surprising there have been a large number of initiatives developed worldwide to promote a broad range of entrepreneurial activities within academic institutions 1. These include programmes to develop new organisations as well as projects that link the school to businesses within the region 2, 3.
In the last two decades, entrepreneurship education has expanded significantly in most industrialized countries 4, as the number of courses in entrepreneurship has continued to increase, both in Europe 5, 6, and in the United States of America 7, 8.
Compared to many other disciplines, that of entrepreneurship is in its infancy, with no standard framework or agreed best practices for entrepreneurial education 9, 10. There is even some debate among scholars as to the wisdom of teaching students to become entrepreneurs in the light of current teaching pedagogy 11, 12. However, there is sufficient empirical data to conclude that students can be taught entrepreneurial competencies 13, and in reference 14,“the question of whether entrepreneurship can be taught is obsolete”.
Standing out among the entrepreneurial competences triggered by education, some authors 15, 16 mention increased knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship, creativity, the sense of opportunity, the ability to take on risks and cope with uncertainty and responsibility. Nevertheless, the central set of skills in this century includes the ability to solve analytical problems, innovation and creativity, taking the initiative, flexibility and adaptability, critical thought and communication and collaboration skills 17, 18, skills that are also appreciated by future employers 19, 20.
To transmit this knowledge and these competences to young people, some programmes have appeared. However, this study highlights the EMPRE Programme. This Project of“EMPRE-School Entrepreneurs”, conceived from the programme of Young European Business (EJE), developed by Valnalón, a Spanish public company, is a Programme of Education in Entrepreneurship (EEP) directed to the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education, Secondary and Professional Education, in which the methodology is based on pupils themselves creating and managing a mini-firm at school during an academic year 21.
The aim of the EMPRE Project is to instil and encourage entrepreneurial and personal skills, highlighting the following: responsibility and organization; expression and communication; initiative and creativity; teamwork and cooperation; interpersonal relations and sociability (Proposal for Pedagogical Intervention EMPRE – School Entrepreneurs AEVH 2009).
EMPRE was implemented in Portugal in the academic year of 2009/2010 in four schools (a school group) in a region in central Portugal (Mação), with a total of 202 pupils. In the 2012/2013 academic year, the project was extended to more than 400 pupils throughout the Central Region.
The project has a consultant supporting the classes involved, a collaborator from Tagusvalley, with the task of managing the period of each phase of the project-17 in total-, helping to structure the organization of classes, providing additional information and advice to both pupils and teachers, and facilitating links between teachers, schools and other bodies (Presentation of EMPRE Methodology). The project also includes a clarification session for teachers and parents/guardians.
In the 2009/2010 school year, the EMPRE project included at the initial stage visits to schools by local business-people, to share with pupils their experiences as entrepreneurs, and a visit by pupils to a firm in the region. At the end of each school year, an“EMPRE Fair” is held, an event where all participating mini-firms are present, with the objective of displaying and selling their products/services.
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