Abstract
D.Ed.
It is an accepted fact that one of the school's duties is to prepare a pupil vocationally as well as to be economically literate. One of the reasons why this study is deemed to be of current interest is that pupils are being educated to be job seekers instead of -providers. The shortage of entrepreneurs is therefore reaching national proportions. At this moment in time education in South Africa does not aim to establish a culture of entrepreneurship and the pupils believe the only requirement is to complete their school careers successfully. After completion of his/her school career a pupil is geared to enter the labour market as an employee. Only in the minority of cases parents and schools educate their children to form any alternative ideas about themselves and life in general. This study looks at the responsibility of the school with regard to teaching entrepreneurship as it exists in the South African society at present. The aim of this study was to establish the following: what entrepreneurship is and which factors outside the school context play an influencing role, the ways in which the school plays a role in the forming of entrepreneurial skills and what the school's responsibility is with regard to educating entrepreneurship. The method of research which was followed was of a twofold nature and consisted of an in depth study of the literature and an empirical investigation. In the study of the literature the profile of an entrepreneur and the characteristics which play a role in the development of entrepreneurs in the family context as well as the environment and culture were investigated. Personal characteristics were also taken into account. The factors which may play a role in advancing and/or restraining entrepreneurial training in the school context were also investigated. The findings and conclusions with regard to these investigations were stipulated and recommendations were made. A questionnaire intended for businessmen/women and teachers was handed out to the relevant people in the Magisterial District of Springs. The validity and reliability of the said instrument were verified beforehand. The results were processed and interpreted by means of a computer. When two or more frequencies were compared the Two-Way Chi-Square was utilised. For the purposes of this study, contextualities and differences between the respondents were accepted as statistically significant on the 5% significance level as well as the 1cY0 significance level. Findings forthcoming from this study were that the school has an enormous educational task with regard to entrepreneurship and the creation of an entrepreneurial culture in South Africa. The curriculum at school should be directed to the development of young entrepreneurs and should also be practice
based. Entrepreneurship and the value thereof should already be emphasized at primary school level. Certain recommendations are made which could be of directive assistance with regard to the establishment of a culture of entrepreneurship and aspects regarding the education of entrepreneurship at school. It is estimated that between 350 000 and 400 000 employees in South Africa are introduced to the labour market annually. Only 50 000 will be employed in the formal sector. It is further estimated that between 33% and 45% of the economically active population (approximately 11 million inhabitants at present) are unemployed. Something could be done about this gloomy picture by starting to look at the schools' involvement and/or task with regard to the education of entrepreneurship. The teaching of entrepreneurship with a view to the future of South Africa specifically and a change in the economic school of thought is primarily regarded to be an educational issue. It should be seen•as an investment in the people of South Africa. The above mentioned reasons underline the importance of an investigation of this nature into the schools' involvement and/or task with regard to the education of entrepreneurship.