by Emilian Pavel, MEP - Romania
It was a real pleasure to take part in the JA Back to School campaign. I joined a Junior Achievement entrepreneurship class in Bucharest, Romania, and I had the chance to chat to 10th grade high-school students about their views on entrepreneurship and hear about some of the business plans they had worked on. I truly believe that European young people need an entrepreneurial mindset, as well as world-class entrepreneurial ambitions. In order to enable that, Europe's educational systems need to be updated, and by working with organisations like Junior Achievement, national governments can transform their entrepreneurial education in a much more efficient way. Entrepreneurial education also needs to start early from the primary school and I'd like to encourage more and more initiatives in this respect!
by Merja Kyllonen, MEP - Finland
Last week, through the JA Back to School initiative, I had the opportunity to visit a vocational secondary school in Kajaani, Finland. It was quite different from my own school time – of which I mostly remember the strict timetables and classrooms. I was very impressed with “YritysAmis” and their emphasis on building entrepreneurial attitudes and cooperative skills. Learning environments have been renewed with the aim to make students more entrepreneurial and less confined to traditional classrooms.
I must confess that I like my job at the European Parliament, although there are days when I would like to exchange my parliamentary bench with a school bench. Who doesn't like remembering those carefree school years? However we should be careful what we wish for because sometimes it might come true. That's how I ended up back at secondary school - even if from a slightly different position.
JA Europe, in cooperation with its membership across Europe, is launching the ‘JA Back to School’ campaign, an endeavour to bring more entrepreneurship into the classroom. Members of National Parliaments (MPs) and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are invited to (re)connect with schools in their country and witness entrepreneurship education in action.
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