Since 2011, entrepreneurship has been included in the Swedish curriculum for primary and secondary schools, but many municipalities and schools are still struggling to include it.
Entrepreneurship at school is about stimulating the student's ability to come up with ideas, develop opportunities, run projects and lead a business. It is important from many perspectives that students get good conditions for training their entrepreneurial abilities. It equips them with the skills needed to meet an unpredictable future and is of crucial importance for the development of our society and Sweden's future competitiveness.
Today we know that it is not enough that entrepreneurship is included in the curriculum for it to be a natural part of the education. To get there, schools must also be given the right tools and conditions to work with entrepreneurship.
Therefore, IVA´s Entrepreneurship Academy has taken the initiative for an extensive policy work where we together with the National Agency for Education and a number of other actors, authorities and organisations examine what is required for us to achieve the vision: 'Entrepreneurship is a common theme throughout the education system, supporting individuals and the development of society, business and industry.´
Entrepreneurship - a key competence
Entrepreneurship is part of lifelong learning and one of the EU's revised key competencies from 2018. The EU describes entrepreneurial competence as the ability to react to opportunities and ideas and to transform them into value for others. The value can be of a cultural, social or economic nature. The competence includes creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, initiative and perseverance as well as the ability to collaborate. The importance of ethical responsibility and empathy for other people and the outside world is also central.
The National Agency for Education has gathered support and inspiration for you as a teacher to facilitate the work with entrepreneurship in teaching. You will find the material (in Swedish) here.
