Body to empower 1m students through entrepreneurship education by 2020

Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), a non-profit making organisation has perfected plans to leverage on the accessibility of mobile technology devices to train a minimum of 1million Nigerian students in financial literacy and entrepreneurship education by the year 2020.

The financial literacy and entrepreneurship education is aimed at building young generations of business leaders and entrepreneurs to compete favourably in global business environment. JAN, which had in the last 15 years of its existence in Nigeria, trained about 500,000 students in 650 schools across the country, aims to reach out to another 500,000 students in the next six years.

The organisation teaches the next generation of business leaders, lessons that include the importance of staying in school, intricacies of business and how to trade with a partner in another country. JAN, which is concerned with teaching young people the mechanics of business management, economics and work ethic, is also targeting the development of a vibrant and diligent Nigerian private sector that can compete effectively in the global economy.

Laoye Jaiyeola, chairman, JAN board of directors, said at a media conference to announce the new plan in Lagos recently, that the plans to reach out to 1million students in 2020, is in tune with the three strategic plans of the organisation to mark the 15 years anniversary celebration of JAN, which is slated for Thursday, May 22, 2014 at the Lagos Oriental Hotel in Lekki.

According to him, the strategies include launching of e-learning platform, a scheme that is designed to reach out to students outside the classroom environment by Omobola Johnson, minister of communication technology.

“Also, we will be showcasing some ambassadors especially former students, who have distinguished themselves as role models for the new students in the area of entrepreneurship. And we will be celebrating our local and international volunteers, donors and sponsors during the anniversary dinner,” he said.

Highlighting the avenues through which JAN has been impacting on the lives of young Nigerians, Kunbi Wuraola, executive director, stated that the organisation had in the past, relied on volunteers especially teachers in both private and public schools, who are trained to teach students entrepreneurship education in the classroom.

“We have students and alumina, who had gone through our programmes in the past, also volunteering to teach younger generation of students. However, to achieve our target of training another 500,000 students in the next six years, JAN approach to financial literacy and entrepreneurship would combine both voluntary teaching and e-learning format,” Wuraola added.

Wuraola, who solicited for more volunteers to help the organisation in achieving its goals, listed ‘JA More than Money’ for elementary school pupils; ‘JA It’s My Business’ for junior secondary school students; ‘Company Programme’ for senior secondary school students; ‘Girls Enterprise Programme’ for young girls; and ‘Venture in Management Programme’ for fresh graduates as JAN’s ongoing programmes.

Some of the local and international supporters of JAN projects include Chevron, ExxonMobil, Schlumberger, Citibank, First Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Accenture, Central Bank of Nigeria, Kakawa Discount House, Dangote, Coca-Cola, African Capital Alliance, and MasterCard among others.

KELECHI EWUZIE