Aiming to foster entrepreneurship among the school-going children in Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, together with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Office for Sri Lankan and the Maldives is set to launch the “Schoolpreneur 2023: School Entrepreneurship Day”across the island on 16th November. The event is a flagship initiative of the ILO’s South Asia Leadership in Entrepreneurship (SALE) project, which seeks to highlight entrepreneurism amongst the young school going children.
Schoolpreneur 2023 will span across schools in all nine provinces of the country, with one district chosen from each province to host the event. The selected districts are Anuradhapura, Badulla, Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee and Vavuniya.
Endorsed by the Ministry of Education, the event aims atfuelling innovation, job creation, and economic growth, instilling youth with a new set of skills and the objective of contributing to Sri Lanka’s socio- economic development. Education Ministry Secretary M.N. Ranasinghe speaking on the efforts made by the government in this regard said the authorities have witnessed substantial advancements in fostering entrepreneurship within educational institutions, including establishing entrepreneurship clubs nationwide.
The ILO said the initiative expects to significantly contribute to nurturing youth entrepreneurship within the nation, especially among school students, who are not targeted under traditional entrepreneurship development programmes on offer. “Investing in nurturing this skill early, already at secondary school level is sure to prepare youth better as they seek a brighter future of work and contribute to the well being of their families, communities and country,” said ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Simrin Singh during the launch of the event held in Colombo on 8th November 2023.
The CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce stated: “ At this moment in Sri Lanka, our primary goal is to attain economic stability. To achieve this it is essential that we nurture entrepreneurship and leadership abilities in the country’s youth to stimulate innovation.I extend my gratitude to all of our partners within the entrepreneurship ecosystem nationwide for their support in making the initiative a resounding success.”
Schoolpreneur 2023, a flagship initiative of the ILO’s South Asia Leadership in Entrepreneurship (SALE) project, is funded by the U.S. Department of State, and endeavours to create a shift in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and bolster the capacity of the youth, enabling them to launch and grow their business ventures as independent and successful entrepreneurs.