Within the framework of the UNESCO International Project on Technical and Vocational Education (UNEVOC), a Regional Project on Curriculum Development on Entrepreneurial Skills for Small Business in Asia and the Pacific was launched in 1994. The project aims to equip students/trainees of formal and informal vocational training programmes, particularly in those countries moving towards a free market economy, with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, so as to facilitate self-employment and the development of income-generating skills. A core-monitoring group comprising experts from seven countries of the region produced a model curriculum on entrepreneurial skills for small businesses involving 200 hours of training. A guidebook for teachers was also compiled. Several countries including China, India and Pakistan then made efforts to adopt the curriculum to their vocational education and training systems. For example, a group of Chinese experts, with the assistance of the Australian Department of Technical and Further Education (TAFE), have produced teaching/learning materials, in the Chinese language, for a 50-hour course on entrepreneurial skills for small businesses. This course is being offered on a trial basis in vocational schools in several provinces of the country.

Source: Technical and Vocational Education Section, UNESCO, May 1998.