Entrepreneurship Education at the Crossroad in Hong Kong

C. K. Cheung

Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2012.35098                

Abstract

While Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading financial and business centres in the Asia-Pacific region, a recent survey conducted noted that only 3 out of every 100 people in Hong Kong had started their own business in the previous 42 months. As entrepreneurs are so important to our economy, schools should be responsible for cultivating in students a suitable entrepreneurial spirit and skills. Unfortunately,. entrepreneurial training in secondary school does little to pave the way for students to pursue their future career planning and is unable to match the future needs of society. With the recent introduction of the New Secondary School Curriculum (NSSC), this article questions if entrepreneurship education could be taught through the introduction of a new course: Business, Accounting, and Financial Studies (BAFS). This research was conducted, through the eyes of business subject panel chairs, to determine a) the importance of entrepreneurship education and b) whether the new BAFS initiative can fulfil the role of promoting entrepreneurship education in Hong Kong.

Keywords

Business; Accounting and Financial Studies; Education Reform; Entrepreneurship Education; Hong Kong; New Secondary School Curriculum

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundation of thought and action. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
[2]	Cheung, C. K. (1997). Business education in Hong Kong secondary schools after 1997. Journal of Education for Business, 73, 333-335. doi:10.1080/08832329809603830
[3]	Cheung, C. K. (2008a). Practicing entrepreneurship education for secondary pupils through the operation of a new year stall in Hong Kong. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 17, 15-31.
[4]	Cheung, C. K. (2008b). An overview of entrepreneurship education programs in Hong Kong. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 60, 241-255. doi:10.1080/13636820802305595
[5]	Cheung, C. K. (2008c.) Entrepreneurship education in Hong Kong secondary curriculum: Possibilities and limitations. Education and Training, 50, 500-515. doi:10.1108/00400910810901827
[6]	Cheung, C. K., & Au, E. (2010). Running a small business by students in a secondary school: Its impact on learning about entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 13, 45-63.
[7]	Cheung, C. K., & Ng, E. (2010). The operation of the commerce festival as an activity approach to learning. International Journal of Scientific Research in Education, 3, 132-140.
[8]	Cheung, C. K., & Chan, R. (2011). The introduction of entrepreneurship education to school leavers in a vocational institute. International Journal of Scientific Research in Education, 4, 8-16.
[9]	Danko, S. (2005). Crossing educational boundaries: reframing entrepreneurship as a social change agent. IntEnt, Guildford: University of Surrey, 1-13.
[10]	Gorman, G., Hanlon, D., & King, W. (1997). Some research perspectives on entrepreneurship education, enterprise education and education for small business management: A ten-year literature review. International Small Business Journal, 15, 56-77. doi:10.1177/0266242697153004
[11]	Hayward, G., & Sundes, O. (2000). New wine in old bottles? Entrepreneurship education in Scottish universities. In S. Natale, A. F. Libertella, & G. Hayward (Eds.), On the threshold of the millennium. Business education and training: A value-laden process (pp. 112- 134). Lanham, MD: University Press of America,
[12]	Kolvereid, L., & Moen, O. (1997). Entrepreneurship among business graduates: Does a major in entrepreneurship make a difference? Journal of European Industrial Training, 21, 154-160. doi:10.1108/03090599710171404
[13]	Kourilsky, M. (1995). Entrepreneur education: Opportunity in search of curriculum. Business Education Forum, 1-18.
[14]	Mohan-Neill, S. (2001). The perceived needs, benefits and potential target markets for entrepreneurial education. In R. H. Brockhaus, G. E. Hills, H. Klandt, & H. P. Welsch (Eds.), Entrepreneurship education: A global view (pp. 184-197). Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
[15]	Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds. Sussex: Capstone Publishing Ltd.
[16]	Thomas, H. (2010). A global perspective on entrepreneurship education and training: A special report of the global entrepreneurship monitor. Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA). URL (last checked 20 May 2011). http://www.gemconsortium.org.
[17]	Waldmann, E. (1997). A preliminary investigation into entrepreneurial/ small business attitudes among students in rural New South Wales: Educational and employment implications. Curriculum Perspectives, 17, 21-27.
[18]	Wilson, K., & Sepulveda, A. (2009). Introduction in a report of the global education initiative. World Economic Forum, 8-10.