Portugal needs more “business-minded” citizens and entrepreneurship education should be part of the school curriculum, said economy minister António Pires de Lima at a parliamentary session on Tuesday, November 12.
Pires de Lima said he had already presented the idea to the Ministry of Education and that it was a priority on his agenda to see Portuguese students being provided with the skills and knowledge to become successful entrepreneurs in future.
However, education minister Nuno Crato has dismissed the idea because, in reality, the current school curriculum, reviewed in 2012, already includes various entrepreneurial learning initiatives.
In a statement sent to Público newspaper, Crato said various entrepreneurship programmes were already in place at schools and were part of a “transversal” educational plan covering all areas of the curriculum.
But Pires de Lima is intent on seeing entrepreneurship gain further academic recognition and has even mentioned his objective in a document outlining a strategy for economic development. According to the document, “entrepreneurship education will be part of the school curriculum” to help “future entrepreneurs” achieve business success. “Encouraging an entrepreneurial culture is vital,” it stated.
The Strategy for Industrial Development, Growth and Employment 2014-2020 was approved in a recent Council of Ministers meeting.
