The Regional Director for Youth announced in Ponta Delgada that the "Entrepreneurial Education: The Way to Success!” will involve this year nearly 1,650 young people and will be held on all islands of the Azores.
 
Lúcio Rodrigues spoke Tuesday at the presentation of the new edition of this programme, which will take place in 41 schools throughout the archipelago and will involve 70 teachers.
 
The Regional Director pointed out that, over the course of this programme, “it has already involved the participation of more than 20,000 young people in the Region.” This figure has been achieved due to the "strong commitment and participation of the school boards and teachers, who once again will embrace the project with great enthusiasm.”
 
The "Entrepreneurial Education: The Way to Success!" programmes developed in two phases: the first consisting of training at schools and the development of projects by students, who, in the second phase, will present their ideas in the IdeiAçores Regional Competition.
 
The programme is aimed at students from the elementary level to secondary and vocational training levels.
 
Lúcio Rodrigues pointed out that the Azores “lead the way" in terms of Entrepreneurial Education, having also "led an international project that involved several European Union countries.”
 
One of the announced novelties concerns the introduction of a "very practical component" into the regional phase of the IdeiAçores Competition, providing young people with the “opportunity to go to the field, visit companies and cooperatives, and participate in processes with them," added the government official.
 
According to Lúcio Rodrigues, launching the idea that projects should be "focused on endogenous materials from the Azores" and "arousing in young people the desire to be involved in the areas of social entrepreneurship and inclusion" are others innovations introduced in this edition.
 
On the occasion, the young entrepreneur Paula Rego presented Queijaria Furnense, a company that stemmed from the "Entrepreneurial Education" programme. This family-based project was created in a difficult situation, during which a dairy farm invested on the processing of its product, creating the Furnenses cheeses.
 
Lúcio Rodrigues highlighted this good example, which "exports and sells all its production," reminding that "entrepreneurship does not have to end in a business idea, we need to be entrepreneurs for life."
 
“Evidently, the idea is to sow seeds for the future. After compulsory education, there are other governmental measures to support business creation, but we must qualify our young people from the standpoint of entrepreneurship for life,” said the Regional Director.
 
Further information is available for interested parties at https://eduempreendedoraazores.com.