Schools implementing School-based enterprise share experiences

Experience sharing meeting among schools implementing the School-based enterprise (SBE) was held as a part of the “Entrepreneurship-Focused Socio-Emotional Skills for The Most Vulnerable Youth in Rural Mongolia” project by Save the Children, at Secondary school No. 2 of Kharkhorin soum, Uvurkhangai province, from September 9 to 12, 2024.

The opening speech was delivered by Nyamdavaa.Yo, the Project Manager of Save the Children; Sainjargal.B, the Head of the Social Policy Department of the Office of the Governor of Uvurkhangai province; and Purevdorj.G, the Head of the Department of Education of Uvurkhangai province.

Sainjargal.B highlights in her speech that “We are pleased to be engaged in this project and collaborate on it. We sincerely hope to organize it in a way that brings real, sustainable, and long-term benefits to the local community. We have been collaborating closely. A few years ago, we were introduced to the idea of the SBE project, and today we are effectively implementing it, discussing the results, and exchanging experiences”.

Teachers and students from Secondary school No.2 in Kharkhorin soum, Uvurkhangai province participated in the opening event with greeting performances that included piano solo of “White Stupa”, a “Mongolian Folk Dance” and the song “Kharkhorin”.

At the experience exchange meeting, participants shared the results and experiences of six SBEs including “Producer Children,” “Development Guide,” “Eco Food,” “My Breakfast,” “Teaching Entrepreneurship to Children through Technology Class,” and “Borjigin Development Center.” Discussions focused on the need to advance the project to the next stage, future measures to be taken, increasing stakeholder participation, coordinating with school management development, and developing sustainability strategies at the aimag level.

The purposes of the SBE experience sharing seminar were to bring the operation of SBEs to the next level by ensuring sustainability, identifying future challenges, and finding solutions, to support developing a SBE sustainability strategy at the aimag level and to engage stakeholders in ensuring its sustainability, exploring opportunities for coordination with other programs and activities in collaboration with relevant organizations.

The project manager, Nyamdavaa Yo, commented on the results of the seminar, stating, “We saw that the SBEs are being successfully implemented at these schools. We hope to spread this initiative throughout our education system in the future. This seminar has been fruitful. We discussed achievements, ways to successfully implement them in the future, opportunities, cooperation, and how to correct mistakes”.

More than 40 people participated in the seminar, including representatives from the Ministry of Education, the General Authority for Education, Departments of Education of 5 target provinces, the Save the Children project team, directors of 6 schools where the SBE initiative is taking place, teachers in charge of the project, business coaches, and project consultants.