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Shuttleworth Foundation | Impact Consulting
THE SHUTTLEWORTH FOUNDATION: In their own words
The Shuttleworth Foundation has invested in a course entitled The Ka-Ching! Business Parenting Course which is run by Ka-Ching! World. This course is quite different from the ones that we usually invest in: it is not an investment with an NGO to address teacher training or a direct learner intervention. Ka-Ching! World is a Close Corporation that has designed a course aimed at parents, who are taught certain principles and techniques that allow them to impart knowledge to their child. The focus of the project is entrepreneurship; the parent is "taught" a program where they teach their children business principles along the lines of entrepreneurship that becomes supportive to entrepreneurship and Economic Management and Sciences taught at school level.
An example is: a child who is rewarded for doing a task then realises the option of earning money and may be prompted to earn more. The parent is then taken through steps to help them nurture this interest and the "arrangement" can then exist within a fully fledged business model with minute taking, notes, action plans, meetings etc. Whilst existing within a "make-believe" situation the course is tailor-made per age group - so whilst it may be very basic for a 6-7 year old, it becomes more substantial to include the needs and sustain the interest of a 14 year old.
Benefits of the course are quite large and diverse: not only does the course support and enhance the teaching of entrepreneurship at school level, which is TSF's primary objective, but it also serves as a unique opportunity to create a stronger bond between parent and child. It also teaches the parents about entrepreneurship and business as the project unfolds - so that the parents also benefit largely from the program. The child exits the course with valuable success skills involving thinking skills, problem solving, confidence and ability to be entrepreneurial with a solid foundation to becoming business savvy.
Our involvement in the course has been to provide funding that will complete the course and deliver the final copy of the course to a focus group consisting of a diverse group of stakeholders who will test the course and provide comment and feedback. A representative sample will be selected to trial the course and evaluate the course. The test phase which incorporates focus groups as well as completing a pilot sample is a core stakeholder to the success of the course.
WHY THE SHUTTLEWORTH FOUNDATION BECAME INVOLVED
Over the years research has proven the existence of a strong relationship between the results that children attain and the support that they receive. This support can come from a teacher who attends to the needs of a child adequately or a parent who assists with homework. This course adequately provides the opportunity to do this - it uniquely creates "tasks" that parents and children undergo together, creating a real-life business activity and produces effective results for both parent and child: children obtain real-life lessons from their parents that complement their lessons at school. Parents are also taught business skills in a user-friendly and easy method, reinforcing their attention to the schoolwork of their children as well as producing a strong bond between families.
Whilst this course directly addresses entrepreneurship skills within the context of economics management and science, it will no doubt produce children who are sensitive and savvy in the areas of business management. Whether the course delivers entrepreneurs or not, there is little doubt that participating children will receive organisational and financial management skill which is a strong necessary life-orientation skill.
The fact that so few courses are in existence that connects parents and children and successfully satisfies the mandate of the Foundation who seeks new, innovative ways of enhancing education. In addition to this South Africa offers very little job opportunities as the world of work becomes more unreceptive with an ever-increasing unskilled work force. Courses such as this encourage the creation of entrepreneurs and therefore increase the possibility of job creation later on.
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The Shuttleworth Foundation - 13 January 2005
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The South African outlook - VERY GLOOMY!
- Only 7% of school leavers are employed in the formal sector.
- Less than half of all tertiary graduates find relevant employment after graduation.
- In February 2002, the Labour Force Survey showed 7,9-million unemployed people (Statistics SA)
- The average expanded unemployment rate is 40,9%. (Statistics SA)
- Many youths do not have the required training and thus have limited opportunities to participate in the formal job market. Young people are the hardest hit by growing rates of HIV infections. They are also disproportionately affected by social problems such as violence and crime
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