Ireland’s Junior Entrepreneurs set a new record this week , when it was announced that sales from the Junior Entrepreneur Programme had hit an all-time high in Irish schools. The 16,000 eleven and twelve year old children who took part in the Junior Entrepreneur Programme hit sales of €320,264 with profits of an eye-watering €198,215.
“This is a new record and testament to the creativity and hard work of teachers from the 600 schools throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland” according to JEP co-founder, Tweak.com founder Jerry Kennelly. The programme’s All Ireland Showcase day takes place at RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin on Monday 20th May, with 5,500 children participating in an exhibition of projects and an awards ceremony, hosted by Marty Morrissey and featuring Keelin Shanley and Miriam O’Callaghan.
“At 11 or 12 years of age children get a chance to learn about entrepreneurship, meet entrepreneurs in their local area and each child comes up with a business idea. It’s just a like a real start-up, with market research, marketing, sales, finance and production teams. Every child invests a small amount of money and reaps the profits from the enterprise” according to Jerry Kennelly who, along with co-founders Fiona Stack, Jerry Clifford and Marie Lynch have run the programme since it was founded in 2010.
67,000 children have participated in the programme since it was founded in 2010 and it’s been proven to reinforce the critical learning elements from the primary school curriculum. During JEP, children invest a small amount of money and need to monitor costs and sales closely to ensure they create a profit. They learn fast when they are talking about their own money. In a JEP survey, 85% of teachers said that JEP enhanced the teaching of maths. 97% of participating pupils said they would recommend it to a friend.
Kennelly’s company Tweak.com funds the programme along with some local partners throughout the country. JEP is free to schools and teachers can sign up now for the 2020 programme. Website: www.juniorentrepreneur.ie
Contact: Jerry Kennelly 087 8122385, jerryk@tweak.com
