PADDLE

PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM SECRETARIAT

PIFS(09) FEDMN.10

FORUM EDUCATION MINISTERS’ MEETING
Nuku’alofa, Tonga
24-26 March 2009

SESSION FIVE

STATUS REPORT ON THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
FINANCIAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN SAMOA

Purpose

This paper provides a status report on the Samoan experience of the UNDP Pacific
Centre’s pilot project “Introducing Entrepreneurship and Financial Education to Curriculum
(EFEC) in Pacific Island Countries”.

Background

2.
The purpose of the project is to: (a) develop and integrate EFEC into the school
curriculum and (b) create frameworks of EFEC for integrated learning within the national
governments’ education ministries and teachers’ training colleges.

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The overall objective of the EFEC project is to provide programmes and learning
opportunities that can cultivate a growing understanding of the value of entrepreneurial activity
and of the contribution that people can make both personally and collectively to businesses, to
the economy and to society.

4.
The pilot project has been jointly implemented by the Samoan Ministry of Education,
Sport and Culture (MESC) and UNDP Pacific Centre (UNDP PC) in four schools (three rural
and one urban) from August 2007 and it is due for completion in June 2009. Technical expertise
is provided by Enterprise New Zealand Trust (now the Young Enterprise Trust). Relevant
stakeholders include the South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment (SPBEA), Small
Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC), National University of Samoa’s Faculty of Education (NUS
– FOE) and Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship (NUS – FBE), Pacific Islands Forum
Secretariat (PIFS), UNDP Samoa and pilot schools

5.
At the initiative of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) the concept of
entrepreneurship education in the school curriculum was introduced to curriculum developers
(April 2005) and Forum Education Ministers (May 2005). At their meeting, the Education

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Ministers agreed that further research should be undertaken in order to progress the introduction
of Enterprise Education in schools in Forum Island Countries. The “Entrepreneurship and
Financial Education in the Curriculum” (EFEC) project is in direct response to the directive of
the Forum Education Ministers.
6.
EFEC targets secondary school students in Pacific Island countries, with the overall
objective of boosting the Pacific’s economic prosperity by graduating an enterprise capable
generation. Starting with Form One (Year Seven) in secondary school till graduation or until
leaving school, students learn about entrepreneurship and financial issues relevant to their lives.
7.
Entrepreneurship Education aims to develop a person’s entrepreneurial ability and
characteristics. Some of the main entrepreneurial characteristics to be enhanced can be summed
up as being results driven, analytical and problem solving, persistent, opportunistic, hard-
working, decisive, confident, a calculated risk taker, visionary, diligent and a troubleshooter.
Through creative learning methods, students are introduced to what it takes to succeed in
business. Hence, EFEC aims to start developing these characteristics
8.
The Financial Education component is an integral part of entrepreneurship education
but carries sufficient merit on its own. Understanding one’s own financial situation in the
increasingly complex world of financial instruments, products and get-rich-quick schemes is
crucial as people are increasingly confronted with the cash economy throughout the Pacific
region. A wide variety of financial products are available to the public but people have little
information and knowledge to make well informed decisions.
9.
From Year 9 until graduation or leaving school, students will be introduced to financial
education topics such as financial wellbeing, the value of assets, growing value and investments,
saving and loans, the different types of loans, interest rates and compound interest and
budgeting. The financial education component also aims to help people understand products such
as hire-purchase and develops a person’s skills to better analyze investment opportunities and
improves the ability to recognize money laundering scams and pyramid schemes.

Implementation Methodology

10.
After an in-depth scoping study, an implementation strategy was designed in 2007 which
included:

Establishing a Project Development Group (PDG), representing a national community
of interest, which was set up to ensure the integrity of the project and gain agreement
for the implementation strategy.

An audit of the Samoan curriculum was undertaken to identify matches and points of
integration.

The identified opportunities were mapped to the subject curricula of the Samoan
curriculum. Three possibilities crystallised into:
a) The redevelopment of the Business Studies Curriculum.
b) The creation of a three day Enterprise Challenge event.

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c) The integration of enterprise into the practical subjects, e.g. Design and
Technology.

a) The Business Studies Curriculum: The Business Studies curriculum comprised
two strands - Economics and Accounting (years 9 – 13). Much of the content
was repetitive, so the curriculum was rewritten to streamline the Economics and
Accounting component and integrate an Enterprise Studies Strand (years 9 – 11)
and a Financial Studies Strand (years 9 – 11). The Business Studies Curriculum
Committee met on several occasions to refine the proposed revised Curriculum.

b) The Enterprise Challenge: A three-day suspended timetable event. Students
undertake a self – directed practical enterprise activity and run a market event at
the end. At various stages, their teachers support them with mini-teaching
moments. In 2008, this was planned for year 9 students. In 2009, years 9 and 10
will take part, and in 2010, years 9, 10 and 11 will participate.

c) Practical Enterprise Project: The Enterprise process is integrated into a
practical subject. Teachers use their own subject curriculum achievement
objectives to develop an enterprise brief or challenge which the students solve
using the subject’s content. This learning approach can be used at any year
level.

Once the opportunities were confirmed by the Samoan educators, teaching and
learning materials were created to support their implementation. The materials were
viewed and discussed by the secondary school curriculum officers and the PDG.

Four pilot schools were identified to implement all three above options and teachers
were given specialised training.

Current Status: Progress achieved to date

11.
Following are the tangible outputs since the start of implementation in August 2007:

a) The integration of Enterprise and Financial Education into the curriculum via
A revised Business Studies Curriculum
A new event: the three-day Enterprise Challenge.
A new approach to delivery of traditional practical subjects.

b) New teaching and learning materials were created for all three outputs.

The revised Business Studies Curriculum
A detailed four-strand Curriculum Statement for teachers, with aims,
achievement objectives and indicators.
A student workbook to accompany the Enterprise Studies Strand (years 9
– 11)
A teacher guide, with lessons, for the Financial Studies Strand.

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The Enterprise Challenge
A facilitator’s guide, to be used for training teachers in the Challenge
delivery.
A team handbook, to be used by the teams participating in the Challenge.

The Practical Enterprise Project
A facilitator’s guide, to be used for training teachers in the delivery of
integrating Enterprise and Financial learning into their own subject areas.
A team handbook, to be used by the practical subject teams formed to
solve their curriculum brief.
A personal handbook, for students to record their individual learning
experiences.

c) Professional development
Specialised workshops organised for each of the new teaching and
learning opportunities

12.
Roll –out Plans: The MESC is organizing roll out to TEN other schools in Samoa during
the 2009-2010 academic year. Relevant materials and the facilitators’ guides have been provided
to NUS, which is responsible for new teachers training and for the MESC to provide professional
development to existing teachers. .

13.
Project Evaluation: An in-depth evaluation of the project is planned in May 2009, which
will comprise of two post participation surveys of teacher and students, both related to the
project’s goals:

In relation to enterprise and financial education activity
In relation to changes of attitudes and understanding of the value of entrepreneurial
activity

Lesson Learned

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The following are some of the critical lessons learned during the course of project
implementation:

The project requires the proactive support of the relevant officials and government
ministries.

There needs to be effective commitment and communication between the
government officials and the implementing teachers.

Teachers must be motivated to attend the professional development workshops and
participate in consultation.

Large shifts in teaching approaches and student thinking will take time to achieve.

That there is financial support at the school level for implementation.

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Project Funding
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The total project cost is approximately US$250,000 allocated through the UNDP Pacific
Centre. The Samoan Government supported the project in kind with significant time and
technical input of their MESC staff, principals and teachers.

Taking EFEC to the wider Pacific

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Valuable experience has been gained from the Samoan project to date. The following
check list could help countries assess their readiness to implement EFEC:

Political and bureaucratic support to implement the project

Preparedness of the Ministry of Education officials to integrate the project within
the existing system

Willing and supportive educators to implement at the classroom level

Adequate facilities for roll out

Financial support at the school level, including recurrent budget allocations

Opportunities in the curriculum, supported by relevant resources and professional
development

Availability of competent technical support and expertise throughout the
implementation phase

Recommendations

17.
Forum Education Ministers are invited to:

(a) note the considerable progress made by MESC, with the technical support of the
Young Enterprise Trust (NZ) and UNDP PC, and to acknowledge the lessons
learned.

(b) endorse the following actions to be undertaken in order to support the replication
and adaptation of the EFEC to other Forum Island Countries:

(i) The results of the evaluation of the Samoa EFEC, that is to be carried out in
May 2009, be shared with Ministries of Education in FICs and to other
regional stakeholders and development partners;
(ii) That UNDP PC, working in partnership with PIFS, SPBEA, Young Enterprise
Trust (NZ) and other regional and development partners, assist FICs that are
committed to implementing EFEC to assess their readiness and to assist in
preparing a full implementation plan and budget to enable individual FICs to
allocate and/or mobilize resources for national implementation; and
(iii) That a regional approach to the implementation and funding of EFEC be
explored to achieve economies through pooling of project management
expertise, technical assistance and financial resources.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Suva
3 March 2009

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last updated Sat Sep 01, 2012