Qualitative Study on Strategies for Promoting Entrepreneurial Skills Development for Self-Reliance among Primary School Pupils in Nigeria

Abstract

Introducing entrepreneurial values from an early age is one of the most important efforts in shaping the character of future generations. Therefore, entrepreneurship learning in children leads more to child mental change so that entrepreneurship education will form a strong child character such as being creative, discipline, critical, able to solve problems, able to communicate, appreciating time, self-controlled, and so on. In promoting entrepreneur-based programmes in early childhood, it is not only the efforts of cognitive formation by informing children about the definition, benefits, and ways of entrepreneurship but also being able to integrate it through the themes in the curriculum used. The following terms were clearly discussed namely, childhood education, the entrepreneurship, self-reliance, entrepreneur for early childhood were also stated including the entrepreneur-based programmes to be adopted such as entrepreneur stimuli, visit to farm, bank, market, outing to culinary entrepreneurs and cooking learning activity. Entrepreneurial values instilled through those activities are creative, unyielding, action-oriented, hardworking, honest, resilient, imaginative, inquisitive, and communicative. Based on these propositions as well other discourses a number of recommendations were suggested which includes; a call for Nigerian Government and other relevant stakeholders must ensure that educational programme across all levels of education are relevant so as to provide children, youths and graduate with the necessary skills to go into entrepreneurship. The paper emphasis that based on the shared responsibilities for entrepreneurship development it can be employed as a viable tool for sustainable development in Nigeria