Credit: MENEJ

Luxembourg's Ministry of Education, Children and Youth and the General Directorate for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises have awarded the first labels of the “Sustainable Entrepreneurial School” project to secondary school students.

The Entrepreneurial School educational programme was launched in 2016-17 to promote entrepreneurship and the spirit of innovation in secondary schools in Luxembourg. Four schools participated in the pilot phase: École Privée Marie Consolatrice (EPMC), École de Commerce et de Gestion – School of Business and Management (ECG), Lycée Ermesinde (LEM) and Lycée technique de Lallange (LTL).

Renamed "Sustainable Entrepreneurial School" and open to all secondary schools in January 2021, the project, which is supported by the Education Ministry and the General Directorate for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, has grown. It notably introduced a strong emphasis on sustainable development, project coordinators in each participating secondary school and an internet platform to put schools and external partners in contact.

"Sustainable Entrepreneurial School is a flagship project allowing to create bridges between schools and companies, a project which prepares young people not only for the world of work but also transmits to them the skills which strengthen them for life", emphasised Claude Meisch, Luxembourg's Minister of Education, Children and Youth, during the award ceremony.

Lex Delles, Luxembourg's Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, added that “this unprecedented project is distinguished by the fact that it not only promotes the entrepreneurial spirit, but also attaches great importance to economic sustainability. The Sustainable Entrepreneurial School project thus prepares students to meet the challenges of tomorrow's entrepreneurship”.

The aim is to develop sustainable and responsible entrepreneurial skills in young people, which overlap more than the concrete activities of companies. It is thus a question of encouraging in students the spirit of initiative and innovation, a conscious interaction with oneself, others and the environment, developing their competences in terms of problem solving and more broadly, the "four Cs" (creativity, communication, critical thinking, collaboration).

Twelve secondary schools, bringing together a total of 13,000 students, and thirteen external partners have joined the project and offer around 35 different activities: workshops, mini-courses, conferences, competitions, visits, etc.

The Sustainable Entrepreneurial School Day, organised at the conference centre of the Education Ministry on 30 September 2021, allowed the partners to present their educational activities at various information stands.

During the awarding of different labels to secondary schools having developed a Sustainable Entrepreneurial School profile two Luxembourg students, Clémentine Offner and Ivo Silva, explained how they had won the bronze medal in the "Entrepreneurship - Business Development" competition at the 7th edition of the European Skills Championships (EuroSkills) in Graz, Austria.