For information only - not an official document
UNIS/OUS/052
29 October 2010
Chevron Gives USD 1 Million for UNIDO Project on Entrepreneurship Curriculum in Angola Schools
LUANDA/VIENNA, 29 October (UN Information Service) - Chevron will contribute USD 1 million towards a project by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) that will help introduce entrepreneurship as a subject in secondary schools of Angola.
The project will complement the national programme of the Government of Angola which aims to develop entrepreneurship skills among the young people and a sustainable private sector in the country.
An agreement on the funding was signed in Luanda today between UNIDO, the Ministry of Education and Chevron.
The ceremony was attended by the Vice-Minister of Education, Narciso Damasio, the Managing Director of Chevron, Alan Kleier, and the Representative and Director of UNIDO's Regional Office for Southern Africa, Stefano Bologna.
Bologna welcomed Chevron as the first donor from the private sector to support UNIDO's Entrepreneurship Curriculum Programme, and said he hoped others will join the initiative. "This programme helps bring together young people, the education system and the private sector. It breaks down walls and links the classroom with the real world of the private sector, as it has already happened in other countries where UNIDO successfully supports similar initiatives, including in Cape Verde, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Timor-Leste and Uganda," he said.
Since 2009, UNIDO has been supporting the Education Ministry in developing and introducing an entrepreneurship curricula in secondary schools. The Governments of Portugal and the Republic of Korea have funded the project until now. The Education Ministry also receives funding support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Chevron Managing Director, Alan Kleier, said: "Chevron is proud to support the initiative of the Government of Angola to develop through education a future generation of competent professionals committed to the country's economic and social recovery. This agreement highlights Chevron's long-term commitment to the development of Angola."
Entrepreneurship is currently being taught in 40 schools in nine provinces of Angola, with over 2,000 students taking part on a pilot basis. The Government plans to roll out the entrepreneurship curriculum in the whole country, potentially reaching to some 500,000 students by 2013. The project is carried out in cooperation with the National Institute for Educational Research and Development (INIDE).
The Vice Minister of Education, Narciso Damasio, added: "The introduction of the entrepreneurship curriculum in our secondary schools will help promote positive attitudes among youth towards work and business, foster creativity, an entrepreneurship spirit and self-confidence. We want to create an entrepreneurial culture and capacity for young people to build a foundation for a sustainable private sector, which will play an important role in reducing poverty."
Diasala Jacinto Andre, the National Programme Coordinator from INIDE, said: "Entrepreneurship has been taught for just about five months, but during our recent visits to the pilot schools, we could already see astonishing differences in attitudes of students."
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For more information, please contact:
Mikhail
Evstafyev
UNIDO Advocacy and Communication Coordinator
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-5021
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-7329
Email:
m.evstafyev@unido.org
