Telmen Erdenebileg, Program Coordinator at Save the Children

1. B U S I N E S S E D U C AT I O N &
E N T R E P R E N E U R I A L S K I L L S
T R A I N I N G ( B E S T ) P R O G R A M
BEST Program, Mongolian Country Office, SC Japan
April, 2015

2. Agenda
 Introduction of Save the Children
 Education forYouth Empowerment (EYE)
 Why BEST?
 Why Business & Entrepreneurship education is
important?
 What is BEST program?
 Q & A

3. Introduction of Save the Children
 Save the Children is a leading independent, worldwide, non-profit
children’s rights organization founded in 1919;
 SC reaches over 140 million children annually;
 SC operates in over 120 countries on various programs /including
Education, Health & Nutrition, Child protection, Child rights
governance, Emergency response etc., /
Save the Children has been operating
in Mongolia since 1994.
Ulaanbaatar and 3 field office in Uvurkhangai
Arkhangai, Dornod and 1 staff in Sukhbaatar aimag.

4. Education forYouth Empowerment
 Under the Education Global Initiative, Save the Children is developing and
implementing new, innovative programs on Education forYouth
Empowerment (EYE).
 Aims to empower vulnerable children and youth in rural and urban areas
socially, politically and economically.
 EYE is a comprehensive education program designed specifically for
vulnerable children and youth in order to lead them to decent jobs or
possibilities for self-employment and finally turn them into empowered and
active citizens. 36 active EYE programs in Asia & Middle East as of 2013 ($18 million)
Skills to Succeed
Youth Savings

5. Why Business & Entrepreneurship education is important?
International praxis
 Entrepreneurship is one of the major options for creating jobs and fostering innovation, as
well as economic growth.
 Many countries are focusing a great amount of effort on fostering entrepreneurship education.
 Studies shows that entrepreneurial skills are best developed at an early age.
Attitudes
Category 1. Self-awareness and self-confidence are the entrepreneurial attitudes which constitute the basis
for all other aspects of entrepreneurship.
Category 2. Taking the initiative and risk taking, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving are
also fundamental.
Knowledge
Category 1. Knowledge of career opportunities and the world of work are learning outcomes that are not
exclusively related to entrepreneurship, but usually form part of students’ general preparation for their future
career choices.
Category 2. Economic and financial literacy, including knowledge of concepts and processes that can be
applied to entrepreneurship.
Category 3. Knowledge of business organisation and processes is specific knowledge of the environment
in which entrepreneurship is often applied.
Skills
Category 1. Communication, presentation and planning skills as well as team work are transversal skills
essential to entrepreneurs.
Category 2. Practical exploration of entrepreneurial opportunities includes the various stages of the
business set up process, including designing and implementing a business plan.
Entrepreneurship education framework model (Heinonen and Poikkijoki)

6.  Empirical evidence on the study of business and entrepreneurship
education at secondary school level:
• Higher employment rates (Unemployment rate was 2.8% compared to 6.6%
for graduates in the control group. Norway)
• Entrepreneurship education graduates were also more likely to be in steady
employment (73.6% as opposed to 60.8% in the control group).
• Higher start-up rates (Wales, Denmark)
• Higher survival rate of companies created (Wales, Canada)
• Increases the probability that an individual starts a firm later in life by at
least 20% (Sweden)
• Young Enterprise UK: firms created by alumni have a larger turnover, they
employ more people and they are more innovative
• Entrepreneurship education delivers a 45:1 annual return on “societal
prosperity” per dollar invested (research from Junior Achievement Canada).
Why Business & Entrepreneurship education is important?
International praxis

7.  Mongolia has a young population; nearly half of the population under the
age of 24 with a fairly even ratio of males to females.
 Unemployment rate remains high. Nearly 25% of Mongolian youth are
unemployed.
 More than a quarter of the population live under national poverty lines and
the gap between poor and rich is widening.
 Lack of economic diversification, excessive dependence on mining revenues.
 Over 70 years socialist influence and nomadic culture, Mongolians are
reluctant to take up opportunities for entrepreneurial activities and self-
employment.
 But country has enormous potentials; including rich natural resources, huge
areas of untapped land, the world’s largest market as neighbours and more than
52 million head of livestock.
Why Business & Entrepreneurship education is important?
Mongolian context

8. Several separate studies were carried out as needs assessment of BEST:
 Employers: 86% of companies believed that an after school education program teaching
business, entrepreneurship and management would be worthwhile. Skills that were selected as
weak but important for success for new entry level employees were communication skills, current
knowledge associated with the job and creative/innovation skills.
 Students: Interest in learning more about business, management and owning a small business,
just under half of the children surveyed agreed they would be interested (46%). However focus
group discussion shows that most of children interests to having their own business in the future.
 Teachers: Teachers agreed students would benefit from learning more about business,
entrepreneurship and management..They think that students volunteering to participate is feasible
however students might not be able to see the benefits.
 Other stakeholders incl. parents, authorities, business owners etc,. Most parents
agreed they would encourage their children to learn more about business, owning a small business
and management at school (76%), with 81% agreeing it would help their child get a job or
entrance toTVET or university courses.
Why Business & Entrepreneurship education is important?
Mongolian context

9.  There is clear gap in Mongolia’s primary & secondary education system that
an absence of business or entrepreneurship education in the national
curriculum.
To address the challenges and closing the gap, Save the Children
proposes to initiate an EYE program called: Business Education
& Entrepreneurial Skills Training (BEST)
Why Business & Entrepreneurship education is important?
Mongolian context

10. What is BEST program?
Objective:To contribute to the promotion and diversification of the local
economy and improve livelihoods through a hands-on comprehensive youth
empowerment program.
 BEST program will support Mongolia’s effort to achieve sustainable
development and poverty reduction through business and
entrepreneurship education for young people.
 It will provide hands-on innovative business and entrepreneurship
study program for 14-17 years old youth as an extra-curricular after
school program.
 It will be comprehensive education program for young generation to help
them to develop business and entrepreneurial mid-set.
 It will help youth to have sound decision on their future career choice.

11. SO I
• Children and youth are empowered to become active and
industrious citizens of society.
SO II
• Local communities, especially rural communities, explore and
utilize their economic potentials to gain real prosperity.
SO III
• This innovative business and entrepreneurial education
program is supported by government legislation and practice.
What is BEST program?

12. Establish
model of
school-based
enterprises (SBEs)
Develop and introduce
innovative business and
entrepreneurship study
program as an extra-
curricular after school
program
Develop and introduce
entrepreneurial teacher training
program and methods for secondary
school teachers. (ToT)
What is BEST program?

13. Secondary
Schools
(urban&rural)
20 schools
2,310
students
National
Center of
Lifelong
Education +
11 centers
1,800
youths
Online
Education &
Networking
Resource
center
Network
What is BEST program?

14. What is BEST program?
SC Japan &
Denmark
Peace
Corps
Business
School,
National
University
of Mongolia
National
University
of
Singapore
Institutional
donors &
Corporate
partners

15. T H A N K YO U !
A N Y F U RT H E R Q U E S T I O N S ?
Contact Information
Name: E. Telmen, Program Coordinator, Save the Children in Mongolia
Email: telmen@savethechildren.mn
Tel: +976-11-329371 (office)