Singapore’s ACE starts USD12.3M entrepreneurship education program for schools

ACE, a private-public organization promoting entrepreneurship in Singapore, has unveiled recommendations for a structured entrepreneurial education program in schools. It will be implemented in secondary schools, junior colleges, polytechnics, and Institute of Technical Education (ITEs) colleges.

Broadly speaking, the new program, which will cost the government SGD15M (USD12.3M), combines theory with mentorship and hands-on experience. Internships will be a big part of it too.

The program will be implemented within 6 to 9 months’ time in nine secondary schools. These institutions were picked because they were either a part of YES! Schools, or already have entrepreneurial programs in place. The program will then be extended to junior colleges, polytechnics and ITEs later on.

The new set of initiatives was hammered out by a task force, consisting of entrepreneurs, educators, and civil servants from the Ministry of Education (MOE). It addresses the negative feedback about existing entrepreneurial programs. The new recommendations will replace YES! Schools, an existing government initiative which struggled with limited industry exposure and inconsistencies in implementation.

Existing entrepreneurship programs in schools were also found to be too ad-hoc, receiving little recognition and interest from students.

Teo Ser Luck, Minister-of-State for Trade and Industry and also the minister in charge of entrepreneurship, unveiled these recommendations today after an ACE event in Singapore geared towards students, who set up booths in a shopping mall to pitch their inventions to the public.

“We want to inculcate the value of taking risk, the value of trying something new and believing in your passion, and also at the same time understand about embracing failure,” said Minister Teo at the press conference.

Secondary schools and junior colleges

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Pilot schools Broadrick Secondary School Hwa Chong Institution Northbrooks Secondary School Outram Secondary School School of Science and Technology Singapore Chinese Girl’s School Woodgrove Secondary School Yuying Secondary School Zhonghua Secondary School

Consisting of students 12 to 18 years old, this segment of the program will be carried out in entrepreneurship clubs which students can opt into. It will be run as Co-Curricular Activities, and will involve a structured 3-year curriculum consisting of learning modules, projects, workshops, competitions, internships, and company visits.

Every school involved will come under an ‘Entrepreneur-Adopt-a-School’ initiative, which attaches any number of entrepreneurs to an educational institution. Home-grown enterprises that have already come on board include interactive digital publisher Koobits, F&B brands Ya Kun International, Soyato, and Sakae Holdings, interior design firm Goodrich Global, and board game publisher Red Tin Bot.

The companies involved are a mix of growth companies and startups, although it is more likely that established firms will participate since younger companies are more concerned about survival and getting a steady stream of revenue.