"The European Youth Forum published a paper entitled A Youth Guarantee for Europe and stated that youth organisations are most adept at providing ‘career focused training via non-formal education and developing a culture of entrepreneurship among young people’. And I would like to outline very briefly for you how this looks – and also to say that we have been doing this for a number of years. What are the capacities and aptitudes that employers are seeking from young people as they begin their working lives, what are called 21st Century skills?
A 15 year-old from Coolock in Dublin has secured an all expenses-paid trip to Washington DC after winning a hotly contested competition run by Foróige Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Laura Greene, a 15-year-old Transition Year student from Colaiste Dhulaigh in Coolock, set up her business – ‘Laura’s Crystal Ware’ - customising hand-painted glassware. Laura has a love of all things craft related so was delighted to get the opportunity to combine her passion with a business.
Here’s an incredible opportunity for our youth entrepreneurship programme graduates who are about to complete their CAO applications. In 2013, c.1500 young people graduated from Foróige’s youth entrepreneurship programme, NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship). These young people are now eligible for an exciting entrepreneurship scholarship at IT Sligo. The scholarship aims to provide a pathway for young people to develop their business idea and turn it into a reality.
The National Craft & Design Fair takes place on Dec 4th - 8th at the RDS, Dublin. Up to 125 of Foróige's young entrepreneurs have been invited to come along and sell the products they have created as part of the Foróige NFTE Youth Entrepreneurship programme. These talented entrepreneurs were given a seed grant in September to set up and run their own businesses and have been working hard over the last few months to prepare their products for the Craft Fair.
Vanessa, a Foróige youth entrepreneurship programme graduate attended a conference on Youth Employment and Quality Jobs in Paris recently. She presented President Francois Hollande with a specially designed Pixi Pot which featured a French and Irish flag. Learn more about Pixi Pots at Vanessa's Facebook page here.
Congratulations to all who took part in NFTE University training this year. 35 teachers and youth workers from Sligo, Donegal, Galway, Dublin, Roscommon, Leitrim, Tipperary and Belfast have participated in the Foróige Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship's interactive 2-day training course which equips trainees with the skills and expertise to deliver the NFTE programme to young people throughout the country. On successful completion of NFTE University, teachers and youth workers become a Certified Entrepreneurship Trainer or CET.
