Servicestelle-Schülerfirmen, the service department for student companies, is a project promoting entrepreneurial spirit and skills at schools in Brandenburg.
Servicestelle-Schülerfirmen was founded in 2005, supported by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the German Children and Youth Foundation.
Student companies are school projects that start their own business in the school environment. A team of students, in classes or in after school clubs, develops a business idea, creates a business model and starts operating the new business – with real products or services. Popular branches for school companies are in the fields of catering & kiosk, arts & handcraft and event management/IT.
The service department supports the foundation and operation of these companies by counseling and coaching teachers and pupils of all school types. A lot of questions concern the taxation, insurance and supervisory duties of student companies.
In 2015, a new ESF-funded project has been implemented in the service department called “Schule mit Unternehmergeist”. It provides trainings at secondary schools that prepare teachers for the integration of entrepreneurship education activities in their classes. Another important pillar of the project work is exchange of information and of work experience between schools and teachers on the one hand and between the student companies and profit- or non-profit organizations from the regions on the other hand. Currently, 25 schools are involved.
Resources needed
The staff is a multi-professional team consisting of seven part-time employees. Three of them are teachers who are released from their official teacher’s duty by the Ministry of Education in order to work at kobra.net.
Evidence of success
About 140 student companies in Brandenburg have been in contact with Servicestelle-Schülerfirmen so far.
The rising number of student companies in Brandenburg and the successes on the single school levels led to a growing network of public and private supporters and promoters (such as ministries, foundations, companies, chambers). With the implementation of the latest official curriculum in Brandenburg, the operation of student companies in regular classes has been recommended.
Difficulties encountered
A main challenge is to secure a long-time financial promotion of the service department while no regular promotion is budgeted, it is decided upon a yearly basis. This means a lot of negotiation with the different stakeholders and the need to meet and harmonize their expectations.
Potential for learning or transfer
Student companies in primary and secondary schools offer a field for practical testing of entrepreneurial skills and other key competencies such as self-efficacy, team spirit and creativity. The integration of these entrepreneurial projects in regular classes and the implementation of a local contact point make it easier for teachers and students to have the courage to start. The close support and advice at schools in all phases of the projects are important factors of success.
On a structural level, a harmonized cooperation with two Ministries in Brandenburg (the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport) and private partners such as the German Children and Youth Foundation has been established. All partners meet regularly in a Round Table to coordinate and discuss strategic topics and funding of Servicestelle-Schülerfirmen.
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Tags: Youth
