The Altice Foundation, as senior associate of Junior Achievement (JA) Portugal, was invited to be present on the 3rd May in Coimbra, at the Coimbra Business School.
JA Portugal reaches all levels of education, ensuring entrepreneurial education in the first cycle of higher education. The JA experiences in the students’ academic course ensure the continuous development of entrepreneurial skills, preparation for the job market and financial literacy. Students are at the center of decision-making and learning.
They learn by doing. They make mistakes, in the protected environment of the school, with the support of volunteers from the work world and the teacher. They develop work skills: leadership, decision making, resistance to failure, teamwork, presentation techniques and oral communication. They are more entrepreneurial, more dynamic and owners of their future.
In the case of secondary education (10th and 12th grades), students create a Company, “THE COMPANY” is the JA flagship programme. Considered a best practice by the European Commission, the programme challenges secondary school students to set up and run a mini-company throughout a school year and in a classroom setting.
Once the team/mini-company is formed, the students have the support of the teacher and a volunteer so that, in a team work, they can achieve the goals that the programme proposes:
– Organize a mini-company;
– Develop a business plan;
– Manage a mini-company;
– Wind up a mini-company.
Paulo Margaça, from the Innovation and Technology Strategy department, was present during the event’s afternoon, attended by 15 schools from various parts of Portugal’s central region, playing the Jury’s role. The winning team was Eco.Five. It aims to develop, produce and market a cushion capable of improving the customers’ quality of life.