UL launches entrepreneurship programme

The University of Limpopo (UL) in partnership with Leuphana University of Lüneburg, the South African National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and BASF Stiftung launched the Student Training For Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship amongst students and graduates at the University last Thursday.
The programme is aimed at equipping final year students with entrepreneurial and business management skills. The programme will be offered in three months and each student will be awarded a certificate of completion at the end of the three months’ training.
Prof Mankolo Lethoko, acting Director for Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership explained the core functions of the programme to be providing an answer to adverse labour market conditions with knowledge and skills for an alternative career option. The programme was described as practical requiring fast take action in starting a real business during the training. “Engaging in a real start process provides the trainees with invaluable real trainees develop confidence in their entrepreneurial skills. The training is comprehensive therefore, it will provide successful entrepreneurship on business administration and entrepreneurship,” Lethoko said.
“The aim is to produce job creators rather than job seekers. With the training we want to increase the number of people employed by the trainees. The trainees should not only create a job for themselves but also for other people doubling the positive impact of the training. The general concept of the programme will consist of 12 sessions that can be delivered in a time frame of 10 to 12 weeks,” added Lethoko.
Education MEC, Mr Ishmael Kgetjepe during his keynote address said the programme must be able to give the proper training so that young people do not miss an entrepreneurial opportunity, which if grabbed and used wisely can surely can be a solution to the problems of the needy and making the necessary impact on their lives. “The programme will indeed promote entrepreneurial potential of young people. We all agree that as much as we need to create jobs, there has to be a shift from talking about creating jobs for youth to talking about youth inventing jobs. We need to enterprise and entrepreneurial development to create a vibrant middle class and diversified economy,” Kgetjepe said.
“This programme must be able to emphasise that entrepreneurship is about innovating, breaking down barriers, taking risks and showing that new business models can tackle long standing problems. The programme will also equip the students with necessary skills to compete in a rapidly changing economy. Our economy is facing serious challenges and unemployment numbers should worry all of us and it is our expressed hope that this initiative can turn the large pool of the unemployed into job creators, as opposed to job seekers. To meet this challenge, we should encourage, educate and empower young entrepreneurs,” Kgetjepe added.
Mr Florian Schmitt of the German Commission for UNESCO stressed that the STEP programme would only offer entrepreneurship training but a programme that combines theoretical classes, such as business administration and marketing, with practical experience. “The programme will also provide the upcoming graduates and students in their last years of university with the necessary skills to seize the attractive opportunity of self-employment and has proven to be an exceptional training to foster entrepreneurship amongst universities worldwide. Students will get the opportunity to start-up a concrete business during the training and most of these are remarkably innovative. “The programme will also assist students to develop a positive mind-set towards entrepreneurship, and in the end they will fully equipped to be become job-creators instead of job-seekers,” according to Schmitt.

Story and photos: Herbert Rachuene
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