The Step Up to a Start Up programme has recently launched its 10th annual edition, intending to help guide high school learners on how to start their own businesses in the green economy, Cape {town} Etc reports.
In addition, the programme also has grand plans to ‘expand its mission of creating young entrepreneurs’.
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Created by youth development experts Primestars, Step Up to a Start Up’s vision is driven by the realities of South Africa’s high unemployment rate and the critical role that small businesses can play in ‘creating employment opportunities that are planet friendly’.
The Step Up to a Start Up programme provides learners with a hands-on opportunity to explore the world of entrepreneurship by helping them create businesses that would solve problems in their communities.
The programme is aimed towards learners in grades 10, 11 and 12 from historically disadvantaged schools nationally.
‘The programme is a bold response to twin crises: climate change and unemployment. By nurturing green entrepreneurs, we are not just building businesses; we are forging a sustainable future for South Africa,’ said Martin Sweet, Primestars MD.
The annual programme, described as ‘multi-layered’, includes an edutainment movie that learners attend in a cinema, while also being supported by learning material and a competition that sees learners ‘conceptualise green business ideas’.
The top entries are short-listed and the finalists are invited to an annual boot camp in Johannesburg at the end of the year.
Previous winning teams hail from across the country and have conceptualised diverse business ideas.
An example include turning Marula nuts into a fuel source, recycling plastic waste into tar and an e-slip innovation.
With a decade of teaching learners the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship, the programme is now poised to ‘expand its horizons’.
Nkosinathi Moshoana, COO of Primestars, said that this year Step Up to a Start Up will introduce Step Up Ignite, a hand-holding mentorship programme that will offer monthly engagements to participants, as well as events, mentors, peer-to-peer learning, and business set-up support.
‘Our long-term goal is to get every school in South Africa to become thriving entrepreneurship hubs,’ said Moshana.
The 2024 programme will start this month with a new cohort of participating schools all over South Africa.
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Picture: Supplied