Member Article

£1.3m boost for enterprise

£1.3m has been made available to North East schools in a bid to embed the idea of enterprise in the curriculum. 100 schools have already been earmarked to receive £12,000 under The Northern Way collaboration to spend on enterprise related activities. An additional 17 schools will receive assistance worth £5000.

Piloted at Key Stage 3 until March 2008, the Northern Enterprise & Education Programme (NEEP) will fund activity which helps pupils learn about running businesses, get the most out of personal finances and join visits to successful companies. The programme is being administered in the North East by the Education Futures team at business and innovation consultancy RTC North.

Gordon Ollivere MBE, RTC North managing director, said: “Investing in an enterprising workforce ready for the challenges of business and industry is important in tackling the £30 billion output gap between the North of England and the rest of the UK. “This investment in skills is also critical to our ability to compete in the increasingly competitive global market place.”

Charlotte Carpenter, interim director of The Northern Way, said: “Schools will share their knowledge and experience with others across the whole of the North so that the benefits can be maximised and help build a more entrepreneurial North. “A modern, knowledge-based economy demands that we grow an enterprising culture. By funding pan-regional enterprise projects like this, we are helping to address the identified shortfalls in entrepreneurial and business start-up activity.”

For more information on NEEP visit www.rtcnorth.co.uk/foresight/neep.asp.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .