By Charles Tjatindi
WINDHOEK
The Entrepreneur Development Program, EDP, which was launched by Holcim Namibia earlier this year, has finally taken form.
The EDP was launched in May this year as part of the company’s social responsibility. It aims to advance entrepreneurship among learners at high school level, preparing them for the entrepreneurship world beyond school.
The programme also directly responds to Government’s call to assist in the education sector and consequently create employment.
Part of the programme focuses on mentorship and involves successful businessmen and women with proven track records.
The programme’s key focus is entrepreneurship development at senior secondary school level, targeting mainly Grade 11s. The training continues up to when the learners move to Grade 12.
“We hope to give Grade 12 learners a choice when they finish their secondary education. Some will proceed for further studies and those that do not get any chance for further studies could venture out into some form of business venture, albeit on a small scale,” said Nora Ndopu, the Corporate Social Responsibility Professional, CSR, at Holcim Namibia.
The Holcim Entrepreneurship Development Program works in various steps, starting with selection.
Once this is done, learners are grouped into business syndicates. Each syndicate should have about four to five participants to whom business training is given.
“In between the training, the participants get about three to four weeks before they come for the next phase. However, it does not mean that these weeks are for them to sit back and wait for the next training phase. During these weeks, they are to consult with their mentors regarding their business project proposals,” noted Ndopu.
Following the training, a graduation ceremony is then held to award the learners participation certificates and a prize for the best project. One such ceremony has been held recently, and was attended by entrepreneur Sidney Martin, Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) President Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi, teachers and business people, among others.
Holcim is currently trying to look at synergies with banking institutions and other business partners to see how they can support winning business proposals.
What makes the project work, according to Ndopu, is the mentorship programme which forms part of the EDP.
Participants are divided into business syndicates while a mentor is attached to the business. They have to ensure that they have consultation meetings with these mentors to guide them through, particularly when they reach hurdles in business planning.
The programme has also been highly praised for also strengthening the academic performances of learners in the areas of accounting, business management and economics.
The EDP has so far been piloted in five schools with two different entrepreneurship programmes.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Seminar offered the first one to four schools, namely Academia Secondary School, A. Shipena Secondary School, Ella du Plessis Secondary School and Jan Jonker Secondary School. The second EDP programme was piloted with Jan Mohr Secondary School. The programme will be rolled out to more schools next year, in consultation with the Ministry of Education.