Part 3 - Human Capital
Basic Skills
These interventions intend to promote the acquisition of basic skills that are required for a productive workforce. Lack of access to quality basic education at primary & secondary school and/ or basic training in work experiences, makes it difficult for businesses to find and hire productive employees, even for low-skilled jobs.
Policy Objectives Addressed | Expected Impacts | KPIs |
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Develop entrepreneurial curricula: Prepare basic entrepreneurial skills education material through tailored local material, case studies and role models. | → |
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Train Teachers: Encourage training for teachers and promote entrepreneurship educators’ networks. | → |
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Training Programs: Promote technical and vocational trainings. | → |
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Partner with private sector: Encourage private sector sponsorship for entrepreneurial training. | → |
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Training for Practicing Entrepreneurs: Promote training for entrepreneurs in informal, SMEs and high-growth potential firms to enhance their capabilities. | → |
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Internships & Apprenticeships:
Promote apprenticeship programmes. |
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Skills match and training curricula in Mauritius
- Following a skills assessment, Mauritius policies propose an analysis of existing national vocational and technical training curricula to assess their relevance to priority sectors.
- The objective is to refocus Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Young Entrepreneurs Programs to ensure that beneficiaries are mainstreamed in the supply side of the skill matching exercise.
- Its Professional Assistance Voucher Scheme (PAVS) may be used in specific areas to match skill requirements.
Advanced Skills
These interventions intend to promote the acquisition of advanced skills. Quality advanced education and training, including specialized STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) courses ensure future entrepreneurs possess the skills necessary to fulfill their ambitions as well as to hire well-skilled, competitive employees.
Policy Objectives Addressed | Expected Impacts | KPIs |
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STEM education in secondary education: Enhance quality of skills provided in STEM subjects to increase the competitiveness of future entrepreneurs. | → |
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STEM education at tertiary level: Enhance the quality of tertiary education in STEM subjects to create mechanisms to stimulate students to become entrepreneurs | → |
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Improve marketability of tertiary academic programs: Address the technical needs of firms in targeted sectors and integrate industry linkages in the curricula | → |
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Shift from STEM to STEAM education: Promote inclusion of Arts in STEM to promote creativity, habit of risk taking, problem solving, experiential learning among future leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, educators and learners. | → |
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Strengthen innovation capabilities of enterprises: Strengthen links between research and development from higher education institutions, science councils, public entities, and private sector, and commercialisation. | → |
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Improve scientific and technical competences: Build capacity in the creation, management and use of intellectual property works. | → |
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Namibia Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy 2020-2030[1]
Namibia’s STI Policy aims to enhance national competitiveness in science, technology and innovation. Some of the most relevant objectives and strategies have been highlighted below.
Improve scientific and technical competences in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
- Invest in postgraduate and postdoctoral programmes
- Establish postdoctoral fellowships in key research fields
- Fund of postgraduate training programmes in STEM
- Train Namibian researchers, technicians, legal practitioners, and entrepreneurs in the management and use of intellectual property rights
Promote a culture of science, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship
- Establish a techno-preneurship promotion programme to promote technology audits by enterprises
- Provide innovation vouchers to companies, particularly SMEs, to procure R&D services from HEI and R&D institutions.
Ireland - Limerick website dedicated to lifelong learners[2]
- The city of Limerick has launched a new website dedicated to lifelong learners. It provides information on the availability of courses and learning opportunities in the area of Limerick.
- The website will have an important role for the promotion of the city as a Learning City-Region which goes beyond national borders.
- The portal will enable citizens to adapt to the societal changes and help Learning Limerick to reach its communication goals. Among them - to show that learning is already taking place in communities and colleges, but also at the workplace and is in accordance with other regional and national policies in place. The website facilitates collaboration between all parties concerned with improving the access to lifelong learning.
Business Skills
These interventions are focused on the development of business skills. Those skills required for starting, growing and maintaining a healthy business. These skills are learned through quality business and operational education and training at school or work (including employee development). Fostering the development of business skills will help entrepreneurs to fulfill their ambitions as well as to hire well-skilled, competitive employees, which results in a positive impact on business development, innovation, and growth potential.
Policy Objectives Addressed | Expected Impacts | KPIs |
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Management Training: Supporting the training of SMEs managers. | → |
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Youth Training: Facilitating the creation of enterprises by the youth. | → |
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Learning in social spaces: creating spaces where entrepreneurship can be addressed on a national level and bridging gaps between academia with industry | → |
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Kenya Institute of Business Training (KIBT)
Kenya Institute of Business Training (KIBT) is an institution under the State Department of Trade, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives. The objective of the institute is to provide Business and Management Development Services to MSMEs and other Interest Groups through: Training, Research, Consultancy.[3]
The training programs are offered and organised through tailor-made courses for different target groups. The different courses offered are listed below;
- Aspiring Entrepreneurs - Introduction to Entrepreneurship (level 1), Generate your Business Ideas (GYBI), Business start-up for youth
- Owners, managers and employees of SMEs - Effective Business Management (level 2), Business Growth and Expansion (level 3), etc.
- Women entrepreneurs - Small Business Management for Women
- SME operators, managers and employees - Business Plan Development, Marketing and Sales Management
Labour Market
These interventions are focused on talent acquisition, employment contracts, startup leaves, remuneration and sensitization of SMEs on existing legislation.
Policy Objectives Addressed | Expected Impacts | KPIs |
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Recruiting / Talent Acquisition: Promoting recruitments and targeting of talents. | → |
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Flexible Employment Contracts: Easing of employment rules. | → |
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Leave: Making it easier for employees to start their own business. | → |
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Skills Assessments: Identifying skill gaps and ways of mitigation. | → |
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Flexible Remuneration: Easing of employment rules. | → |
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Review of Existing Laws & Sensitization of SMEs: Improvement of the labour law enforcement. | → |
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Italy Startup Act - Flexible employment policy for Startups
- In Italy, startups have a tailor-made labor law on fixed-term contracts which gives them the ability to hire a staffer on a fixed-term contract for flexible lengths of duration. Within 36 months, the contract can be renewed as many times as needed, however after 36 months, it can be renewed only once for 12 months maximum (duration of 48 months overall). By the end of the 4-year period, the contract is automatically converted into an open-ended one.
- Startups with more than 5 employees are also not required to maintain the ratio between fixed-term and active open-ended contracts.
Tunisia Startup Act - the Startup Sabbatical innovation
- A civil servant or a private sector employee, who would like to launch a startup, may be entitled to a leave for a period of one (01) year and is renewable once. This right is limited to three founding shareholders per startup who are full-time employees elsewhere.
- The employer cannot oppose the departure of the employee approved for the leave with the exception of a private employer with less than 100 employees. In this case, the employer’s prior authorization is required for approval.
- Employees granted a leave to set up a Startup have the right to maintain their contractual and statutory relationship with the employer but will receive no salary, compensation or annual leave from the prior role.
Human Capital KPIs
Sub Challenge | Description | Indicators | Source |
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Basic skills | Measures the basic quality of human capital. Access to quality basic education at primary & secondary school and/or to basic training in work experiences, is needed for productive employees. | Learning adjusted years of school | www.worldbank.org/en/publication/human-capital |
Adult literacy rate | www.data.uis.unesco.org | ||
Advanced skills | Measures the quality and access to advanced education and training at schools or at work. Skilled, competitive employees are needed for high-growth business, especially in knowledge-intensive sectors. | Tertiary enrolment rate | www.data.uis.unesco.org |
Technicians and professionals in workforce | https://ilostat.ilo.org/ | ||
Labor productivity per employee | www.conference-board.org | ||
Ease of finding skilled employees | www.doingbusiness.org | ||
Business skills | Captures the extent of business savvy workers and access to training in entrepreneurship skills in a country. These skills are needed to bring a good idea to market, adapt to consumer demands and grow businesses. | Training in starting a business | Expert opinion |
Entrepreneurship competencies in national curriculum | Expert opinion | ||
ICT Skills | www.weforum.org | ||
Quality of management schools | www.weforum.org | ||
Start-up skills | www.thegedi.org | ||
Human capital | www.thegedi.org | ||
Labour market | Indicates the conduciveness of labour regulation to business growth. It includes the ease of hirings and dismissals, minimum wages and openness to new forms of labour such as the gig economy. | Prevalence of gig economy | www.weforum.org |
Labour freedom index | www.heritage.org |
Further Reading
Entrepreneurship Education
Education Innovation and Research
FINAL CONCLUSION
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- ↑ National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, Namibia 2020-2030
- ↑ The Mayor (2019), Limerick wants to become a Learning City-Region, https://www.themayor.eu/en/a/view/limerick-wants-to-become-a-learning-city-region-2917
- ↑ Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development (MoITED), Kenya Institute of Business Training (KIBT), https://www.industrialization.go.ke/index.php/departments/state-department-of-trade/431-kenya-institute-of-business-training-kibt