Northern Beaches Mums Group
Northern Beaches Mums Group

Are schools limiting your child’s prospects?

It’s no hidden secret that the current education system is geared towards placing students in various employee roles within society and that the rare student creating their own companies are normally those who don’t fit this model.

In 2014 Australia and 129 other countries signed a United Nations resolution aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship, they saw it as the future key driver of jobs worldwide. The resolution highlighted the value of teaching entrepreneurial skills at all education levels to help ready the next generation for a less industrialised work force. So why aren’t we seeing more of these skills integrated into our school curriculum’s?

One Acorn, a Northern Beaches based company run by school teacher Jarrad Dober and Early Learning teacher Monique Wardley, was created directly to address this need. I never felt like I’d found my calling as they say, I tried so hard to fit the traditional model that I finished two TAFE courses and a University degree before realising I could actually turn my dreams and ideas into what I got to do everyday. One Acorn was built because this simple teaching allows everyone but especially children to dream up an infinite number of possible futures for themselves, each more exciting than the next. Who wouldn’t want that freedom for their child? questioned Jarrad.

A recent report by AusStartUp backed Jarrad and Monique’s thinking, the Australian education system is geared toward preparing students for the workforce, instead of equipping them with the skills and knowledge to start their own businesses. The report goes on to suggest that the national Australian curriculum be altered in the future, to include such skills.

We take kids on a self-discovery, where they get to learn that everything they’ve ever dreamed of can be possible, they then narrow down these ideas on a 5-day journey of company creation, product design, trade shows and a penultimate Shark Tank style pitch fest. It’s truly one of the best gifts you can give a child, the belief in themselves that they can create a future based around the things they love? explained Monique.

Paul Bassat, one of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs said ‘the future prosperity (of Australia) will be a function of the dedication, ingenuity and resilience of our great innovators (or future innovators). Anything we can do to encourage this outcome is incredibly valuable.’