The potential contribution of the intended high school curriculum at exit level to the entrepreneurship education of South African youth

Abstract

The highest unemployment rates recorded in South Africa since 2003 were announced in November 2016. Youth unemployment is still higher than the national average, adding to the conundrum. Government officials have long been mentioning entrepreneurship education as a potential contributor to addressing this challenge, but it seems like progress is slow. One instrument that could contribute to addressing youth unemployment is the national school curriculum, in the form of entrepreneurship education. The South African school curriculum has, however, undergone several changes in recent years and up-to-date analysis of the current curriculum is scarce. As no distinct entrepreneurship subject exists in the curriculum, a scaffold qualitative document analysis was launched to investigate how and to what extent entrepreneurship education is included in the intended high school curriculum of South Africa. Based on the findings and conclusions of the research, recommendations were made to improve the potential of the current high school curriculum to contribute to youth entrepreneurship education. These recommendations will be presented to authorities in the Department of Basic Education for consideration in subsequent curriculum upgrades, to bolster entrepreneurship education as part of formal schooling in South Africa.