Lankan school students to get a taste of entrepreneurship with ILO’s Schoolpreneur 2023

CCC Senior Assistant Secretary General Manori Dissanayaka, CCC CEO Buwanekabahu Perera, Education Ministry Secretary M.N. Ranasinghe, ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Simrin Singh, ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Chief Technical Advisor Thomas Kring and Education Ministry Director Chandrani Hettiarachchi
PIC BY PRADEEP DILRUCKSHANA

Sri Lankan school-going children will get a fresh taste of entrepreneurship in November, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) set to launch Schoolpreneur 2023 across the island nation. 
The event aims at instilling entrepreneurial skills at school level, so that the younger generation has access to wider opportunities to generate a substantial income once they have completed their school education. 
The event will be rolled out by the ILO in partnership with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) together with the Education Ministry on November 16, which is also the School Entrepreneurship Day. 
Schoolpreneur 2023 is a flagship initiative of the ILO’s South Asia Leadership in Entrepreneurship (SALE) project, which seeks to facilitate a change in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and bolster young people’s transition into the entrepreneurial world. 

Schoolpreneur 2023 will span across schools in all nine provinces of the country, with one district chosen from each province to host the event. 

The selected districts are Anuradhapura, Badulla, Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee and Vavuniya.
The ILO said the initiative expects to significantly contribute to nurturing youth entrepreneurship within the nation, especially among school students, who are not targeted under traditional entrepreneurship development programmes on offer.  
“Investing in nurturing this skill early, already at secondary school level is sure to prepare youth better as they seek a brighter future of work and contribute to the wellbeing of their families, communities and country,” said ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Simrin Singh during the launch of the event in Colombo yesterday. 
Education Ministry Secretary M.N. Ranasinghe speaking on the efforts made by the government in this regard said the authorities have witnessed substantial advancements in fostering entrepreneurship within educational institutions, including establishing entrepreneurship clubs nationwide.

The effort, funded by the U.S. Department of State, endeavours to create a shift in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and enhance capacity among the youth to enable them to launch and grow their business ventures. 
Rolled out in Sri Lanka and Nepal, a sum of US $ 2 million is allocated for the project for two years. (SAA