An evaluative study on the effect of entrepreneurial education curriculum on students at the University of Venda, South Africa

Abstract

This study was conducted amid wider recognition and adoption of the idea of entrepreneurship education within the broader school curriculum. Policymakers, economists and academics’ agendas across the globe emphasise entrepreneurial culture and foster entrepreneurial intentions and attributes as mechanisms that provide self-employment which helps re-educate unemployment particularly for vulnerable youth graduates. A survey was conducted amongst 46 out of 69 final year entrepreneurship students from the University of Venda whose data were captured through self-administered questionnaires and interviews. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Findings thereof revealed that the majority of the respondents had a significantly high entrepreneurial intention and attributes to start their own business within two years from their graduation. In addition, the majority of the students indicated that the course delivery should be practical and be learnt through business activities or application of practical cases instead of learning ‘about’ business. In order to strengthen the delivery of the curriculum, it is recommended that the content, teaching approaches, assessment, etc., be better adjusted to the original intention of entrepreneurship education. Furthermore, a tracing system is recommended in order to follow students’ progress over two successive years from their graduation.