​School businesses take learning beyond the classroom

Students around the world have the chance to gain valuable 21st-century skills through hands-on business programme, The School Enterprise Challenge.

In 2017, homemade doughnuts from a school in Uganda, envelopes made from recycled paper in Rwanda and traditional clay pots in India were just some of the created by over 5,900 school business teams that signed up for the School Enterprise Challenge.

With the 2018 School Enterprise Challenge awards programme now open for registration, more schools have the opportunity to learn how to run their own profitable, sustainable and educational school business.

The School Enterprise Challenge is a free international business programme which guides student and teacher teams to plan, set up and run businesses in their schools. In these businesses, students create products or services and generate real profits. Their profits are reinvested into the business, helping it grow year upon year and create social impact: buying new equipment for schools, paying tuition fees for students in need or supporting important local charitable causes.

Last year’s top award winning school,GGUPS Sallada in northern India, won $5,000 for their handmade sanitary pad business which provided an affordable and empowering product to women and girls in their rural community. Happy Days Nursery and Primary School in Uganda, another award winning school, sold portable hand washing stations as a way to improve hygiene and sanitation in their village.

The School Enterprise Challenge was founded in 2011 by UK-based charity Teach A Man To Fish in response to the growing rates of youth unemployment and poverty. School businesses provide a platform for students to develop important skills such as problem solving, communication and teamwork in addition to the experience needed to start a business after finishing school.

“Entrepreneurship is definitely an important skill for everyone, even for those who do not perceive it as a career option. It gives us opportunities to create something new, to think ‘out of the box’” says Chelsea Sawlani, Student General Manager of 'Good Earth' business at Choithram School in India.

The School Enterprise Challenge is open to any school in any country around the world to participate. Sign up today at schoolenterprisechallenge.org

For more information, please contact

Adrienne Bernstein

PR and Communications Officer

adrienne@teachamantofish.org.uk

Notes for editors:

• The School Enterprise Challenge is an annual awards programme supporting schools to plan, run and set up a school business
• School businesses are real businesses owned by a school and run by students and teacher teams
• In 2017, over 5,900 schools from over 110 countries signed up to take part in the School Enterprise Challenge
• Schools that launched businesses in 2017 generated over $694,000 collectively