HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam wants to nurture entrepreneurship spirit among students before they even reach university age, an education official said yesterday.

Nguyễn Xuân Thành, deputy director of General Secondary Education under Education and Training Ministry, made the statement at a conference on early start-up education, saying an entrepreneurial spirit was an important part of career guidance for school-aged children.

With enhanced entrepreneurial spirit, Vietnamese young people could change their mindset from “seeking jobs” to “creating jobs” after graduation, he said.

Thành said that last year, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc approved a project ‘Supporting student entrepreneurship 2017-2020 with a vision towards 2025’ (known as Project 1665), aimed at equipping college students with the basic knowledge and skills on how to start a business, and more importantly, changing the mindsets of students regarding entrepreneurship.

“Project 1665 focuses on supporting students to learn and develop their entrepreneurship spirit and called on relevant stakeholders including schools and businesses for nurturing the spirit,” he said.

Nguyễn Cảnh Bình, CEO and founder of Alphabook - a company that publishes books about business administration in Việt Nam, said links among Government, schools and entrepreneurs brought benefits for all, particularly students.

Bình said he hoped the Government and schools would pay more attention to assessing and selecting company partners so the trilateral co-operation could be more effective.

Deputy chief of Mission, The Embassy of Israel in Việt Nam, Doron Lebovich talks about Israel’s experiences in developing and implementing start-up training in general education.— VNS Photo Bích Hường

Also at the conference, deputy chief of Mission, The Embassy of Israel in Việt Nam, Doron Lebovich spoke about Israel’s experiences in start-up training in general education.

"Israel has start-up education models in the curriculum for primary school students," he said, adding that they encouraged young students to study science and technology, and regularly offered training programmes on science and technology for teachers.

“The new era changes kinds of skills and knowledge students need in order to effectively participate in the social and economic life.

“Increasing exposure to financial education including financial management, career guidance and entrepreneurship elevates the rate at which individual save and accumulate wealth during their adult lives,” he said.

Đoàn Bích Ngọc, the director of Junior Achievement (JA) Việt Nam, said the start-up world was a harsh environment in which businesses nurture not only their passion, but also accumulate knowledge and skills.

“Entrepreneurship spirit, knowledge, especially financial understanding and their own strengths are important foundation for successful start-ups,” she said.

JA Vietnam is a member of JA Worldwide, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to addressing fundamental social and economic challenges of young people by educating them to transform their future.

The conference is part of ‘National Startup Day for Student – SV.Startup 2018’ held yesterday in Hà Nội by the Ministry of Training and Education— VNS