Hamilton Helps Launch Young Enterprise Scheme
3 January 2012 |
Posted by Jim Masson |
STRANGFORD DUP MLA Simon Hamilton was the guest speaker at a Young Enterprise event at the Girls Model School in Belfast.
A group of Year 13 pupils have formed their own company “Eco Sheek Trendz” and have gained entrepreneurial skills through designing, marketing and selling trendy re-usable bags which are proving to be very popular with hundreds sold.
Commenting, Simon Hamilton said: “It was a pleasure to be asked to be involved in the launch of the Girls Model’s ‘Eco Sheek Trendz’. It is great to see so many of our young people involved with the Young Enterprise scheme learning essential business skills in a school setting that they can take forward in their careers.
From left: Simon Hamilton MLA, Chair of the School Board of Governors Jackie Weir, pupil Courtney Burns, teacher Paula Leitch, pupil Leah Holland, Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland MLA and Ken Simpson from Young Enterprise.
"All too often, our young people seem to be directed more towards the relative safety and security of professions like law, accountancy and medicine. For some reason, encouraging students towards a career in business or industry has not been as popular as it should have been. Yet, if we are to rebalance and rebuild our economy, we need more and more of our best and brightest young people taking up careers in business.
"With schemes like Young Enterprise tapping into the growing popularity of television programmes like The Apprentice coupled with an education system focusing in more on STEM subjects, there is a greater chance that schoolchildren will consider a career in business where before they may not have.
"Regardless of what career path a pupil chooses, the Young Enterprise scheme endows schoolchildren with essential skills not just for business but for life. It doesn’t matter what the future holds but gaining early experience in budgeting, marketing, production, IT, sales and human resources is extremely useful.
"The innovation and enthusiasm that I saw at the Girls Model filled me with confidence that our young people have the ideas and determination to play their part in mon_soving Northern Ireland forward into a brighter future”, he added.
