The prizes to promote entrepreneurship amongst infants, primary and secondary school students form part of the strategic objectives of many entities for economic promotion in different territories.
The prizes aim to stimulate entrepreneurial initiative and the culture of innovation to favour the future emergence of business projects and start-ups that will offer answers to the challenges presented by today’s society.
The importance of these prizes lies in the fact that:
They contribute to the recognition of, and help to make visible, the efforts made by students and teachers and the entrepreneurial initiatives that originate in educational centres.
They place emphasis on innovation and the management of knowledge as ways of making this viable, with the understanding that the sum of the forces applied in this direction will make it possible to promote more advanced and competitive territories that will be able to create employment by exploiting the existing potential.
They make it possible to give a central position to the recognition of certain specific areas of productive activity which are sometimes relegated to a secondary position, such as: sustainability, the natural environment, tourism and culture, health and sport and, as perhaps could be imagined, providing care to people.
At Compulsory Secondary Education, High Schools and Professional Training centres, research work is carried out and business plans are made using new ideas which, at times, do not go beyond their walls.
Many of the ideas presented offer creative responses to the challenges presented by today’s society. They imply effective and quantifiable improvements in their areas of action and also have as their objective the task of generating opportunities for the maximum number of people possible and strengthening the existing business fabric
The organisation of this recognition and its prizes for entrepreneurship makes it possible to give greater relevance and visibility to these initiatives and also to promote the work done by students and teachers.
Every year, GLOBALleida organises the E2, Entrepreneur School Prizes, in collaboration with the Department of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya, within the framework of the Generalitat de Catalunya’s programme “Catalunya, Escola d’Emprenedors” (Catalonia, Entrepreneur School), with the aim of encouraging the presentation of new ideas and entrepreneurial practices that can encourage entrepreneurship amongst students of infant, primary and secondary education in the province of Lleida.
These prizes are aimed at all of the educational centres in Lleida province, and their respective students, who – during the current academic year – have developed educational programmes that promote the entrepreneurial spirit and/or that have helped to improve student training in the area of setting up companies.
Presentation of the works:
In infant and primary education, the projects can be presented globally, as centre projects, or by class or cycle groups. It is possible to present: a description of the practices in question; centre projects related to entrepreneurship or the creation of companies; or class group or cycle projects that focus on interaction with the environment.
In secondary education, the projects can be designed individually or in groups of up to 5 students. In each case, the projects must include:
Compulsory Secondary Education: a synthesis project, or piece of research work, related to the creation of a company or the development of a new product or service.
High School: research work related to entrepreneurship and the creation of companies.
Pre-professionalising programmes: work related to the development of a product or service.
Middle- and higher-level professional training cycles (VET students): a business plan.
Categories and Prizes:
The prizes that will be awarded are:
Centres and students of infant and primary education
a. Prize for the best centre project: IT material valued at €500 for the centre.
b. Prize for the project that best interacts with the environment: IT material valued at €500 for the centre.
Students of Compulsory Secondary Education
a. Prize for the best synthesis project: IT material valued at €500 for the students.
b. Prize for the most innovative or creative idea: IT material valued at €500 for the students.
High School students
a. Prize for the best research work related to entrepreneurship and the creation of a company: IT material valued at €500 for the students.
b. Prize for the project with the greatest applicability to the world of the company: IT material valued at €500 for the students.
Students from pre-professionalising programmes
a. Prize for the best entrepreneurial idea: IT material valued at €500 for the students.
b. Prize for the best project: IT material valued at €500 for the students.
Students from middle- and higher-level professional training cycles (VET students)
a. Prize for the best idea: IT material valued at of €500 for the students.
b. Prize for the most viable project: IT material valued at €500 for the students.
Furthermore, the winning projects in the professional training cycle category will also participate in the Catalan final organised by the Department of Education.
The results achieved in recent years have been:
- 2013-2014 course: 8 centres presented 14 projects in the competition.
- 2014-2015 course: 8 centres presented 17 projects in the competition. This was the first year in which infant and primary school centres and students participated.
- 2015-2016 course: 8 centres presented 18 projects in the competition.
- 2016-2017 course: 10 centres presented 25 projects in the competition.
- 2017-2018 course: 10 centres presented 21 projects in the competition.
- 2018-2019 course: Call for participation currently open. This is the first year in which students from pre-professionalising programmes will be able to take part.
Figure 1 RESULTS ACHIEVED
