St Benedict’s College Secondary School, Kirkop, was chosen by Junior Achievement Malta to be awarded The Entrepreneurial School Award 2016.

The award was presented to Keith Scicluna, a teacher at the senior school, during a recent conference held in Riga, Latvia, attended by representatives of schools, ministries and Junior Achievement Europe officials from across Europe to discuss the theme Entrepreneurship in Education. During the event, 16 other European schools that excelled in entrepreneurial education in their respective country received a similar award.

Vangard Johansen, a research professor from Norway, presented studies and analysis that show that when students are exposed to entrepreneurial skills at a young age, they find it much easier to succeed in their careers or business later on in life.

He argued that in future, all European schools should offer entrepreneurship training and experience through SMEs that students themselves organise and manage so as to instil in them basic entrepreneurial skills and knowledge that may help strengthen Europe’s economy.

The outcome of the discussions at the conference will be passed on to the European Commission.