EduMais volunteer, Anna Bowman, hit on a bright idea while planning English classes for final-year pupils in 2018. Why not combine the students’ English learning with a course on entrepreneurship? That way, we could expose them to an array of possibilities for their future lives.

EduMais’s entrepreneurship course was born! As well as expanding practical English vocabulary, the course gives students the chance to develop business skills and experiences that prepare them for life after school.

To design the course, we collaborated with Novos Líderes Empreendedores, a local NGO that provides commercial education to children and adults residing in less privileged areas of Rio de Janeiro. We then adapted the template they supplied to the particular needs and capabilities of Edumais’s students.

During the course, students design a business project to address a need in the community. While continuing to improve their English, they have an invaluable opportunity to picture themselves as business owners.

The course takes place for two hours a week during the students’ final school year. The students spend the first few sessions finding the creative inspiration for their project. We encourage them to think about their passions, as well as societal problems and needs in Rio de Janeiro and beyond.

Once a problem is identified, the students are asked: so how could we solve it? Working in pairs, students begin to formulate their responses.

After students have selected their project, they start to do their research in English. Using Canvas, an online business development site, they plan their business from beginning to end.

This involves market research, logo design, social media marketing, and financial planning, among other things. Students also have to deliver an elevator pitch, as well as the final presentation of their project, in English.