The project “EROVET: Fostering youth employability through a European Research Group on VET“ has been completed with the main objective of development a system capable to boost young people’s key and specific entrepreneurial skills in a comprehensive way. Spain, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Lithuania participated in this project.

All participants agreed on the need to develop the key competences of entrepreneurship: self-confidence, adaptability, creativity and specific business skills. Joint meetings have shown that there is an enormous variety of internships available in all countries, but in many cases the process of developing entrepreneurship is decentralized, from the bottom up. In each country, teachers and schools tend to be the most influential actors and their degree of interest in and ability to provide students with information and necessary tools to improve their key competences in entrepreneurship.

In Lithuania, entrepreneurship education is included as an optional module in the general curriculum and in vocational schools in vocational training programs. These are simulation companies belonging to the Lithuanian PE Center SIMULITH and Junior Achievement-Young (JA-Ye). These companies focus on developing practical key competencies by simulating real firms and developing specific products and services. Here the teacher plays the role of a consultant or supervisor. Pupils plan their own activities, look for various resources they need, analyze the potential market, conductsales  and settlement, set up bookkeeping and more. These activities help students become more motivated, self-reliant, team-based, and develop key entrepreneurial skills. The members of these companies work in close cooperation with other Lithuanian educational institutions, share best practices in organizing “Business Days”, “Business Weeks”, during which they present their business ideas to future employers, engage in various activities, conduct joint seminars and trainings. In addition, practically all VET modules incorporate topics related to the development of key entrepreneurial competences.

At school since the beginning of this school year the system called ‘Interactive e-learning tool for the development of entrepreneurial and entrepreneurial key competences in vocational training’ will be implemented.