UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre and DUOC UC – a UNEVOC Centre in Chile, together with UNESCO’s Section for Youth, Literacy and Skills Development and UNESCO Regional Bureau in Santiago, are organizing an Experts Consultation Meeting on mainstreaming entrepreneurial skills in TVET in Santiago, Chile from 5-7 December 2017. The meeting will include the participation of UNEVOC Centres and other key stakeholders from around the world.

Mr. Rodrigo Nunez, Coordinator of the UNEVOC Centre DUOC UC in Santiago, sharing his views with the Experts' Group

As Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems brace to respond to the changing working environment, there is an increased realization for them to cater for a broad set of skills that go beyond that basic job-specific skills, by promoting entrepreneurial skills and mind-sets, and an innovative culture. The importance of entrepreneurial skills to better equip youth to access the world of work and to improve their capability to adapt to changing skill-demands is well reflected in the commitments made by the international community. The Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Education, through one of its 10 targets, explicitly calls for the need to strengthen ‘skills for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship’. Furthermore, under the Sustainable Development Goal 8 to promote ‘full and productive employment and decent work for all’, policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation are highly sought. The UNESCO Strategy for TVET (2016-2021), also considers ‘fostering youth employment and entrepreneurship’ amongst its three main thematic priorities.

Entrepreneurship is not only limited to a subject matter focusing on business creation and is considered to be key competence in the world of work today. There are various ways to integrate entrepreneurial skills in TVET. Understanding various potentials and learning from existing practices would help guide countries in designing and implementing effective strategies in mainstreaming entrepreneurial learning throughout TVET policies and programmes.

With this in context, this experts consultation meeting being held in Santiago, Chile aims to:

• Identify and discuss different ways through which entrepreneurial skills are mainstreamed in TVET policies and programmes;
• Share country experiences and identify challenges faced in the integration process;
• Examine changing roles of TVET teachers and implications on teacher training;
• Elaborate the analytical framework for the country case studies to be conducted in selected countries in 2018.

The participants at the meeting include experts from UNEVOC Centres and relevant organizations from different regions Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Barbados, Peru, Paraguay, Chile, India and Canada.

To follow the discussions at the meeting, or to share your inputs please reach us through #UNEVOCEntreprenuership on Twitter or our Facebook Page.

Representatives of UNESCO Regional Bureau in Santiago, DUOC UC, Ministry of Education - Government of Chile, and UNESCO-UNEVOC at the Experts' Meeting