THE IRISH SMALL and Medium Enterprises association has hit out against the failure of the Irish education system to encourage school leavers into entrepreneurship.

The small business lobby group said that entrepreneurial education should be included on the school syllabus to promote enterprise culture in Ireland.

Students, chief executive Mark Fielding, should be encouraged to consider starting their own business rather than simply to attain employment.

“Enterprise education must be introduced at primary school level and promoted throughout the education cycle and starting your own business should be presented as a viable and attractive alternative.”

He said that big business lobbyists constantly demand more maths and science graduates to satisfy what he termed “their multinational masters”.

“The importance of entrepreneurship in the regeneration of the Irish economy must not be overlooked”, he said.

Fielding said that the Government has not done enough to address third level alternatives for school-leavers, including apprenticeships and traineeships.

“There is currently a serious shortage of apprentices and Government has been negligent in addressing this issue.”

The result is that as the economy experiences a lift we are seeing employers struggle to find suitably qualified staff. The situation will deteriorate if preventative measures are not taken.”

Read: Foreign multinationals are thriving while Irish businesses go to the wall – ISME>

Read: The results are out – how students got on with the Leaving Certificate>