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39 schools recognised for their outstanding implementation of entrepreneurship education programmes

The 6th edition of The Entrepreneurial School (TES) Awards took place virtually on 9 November 2020 as part of the European Vocational Skills Week. 39 innovative academic and vocational schools from 25 European countries were selected at the national level for their cutting-edge vision and outstanding implementation of entrepreneurship education programmes. 51 headmasters and teachers gathered online to receive their school's award and connect in engaging debates.

The TES Awards is an annual recognition led by Junior Achievement (JA) Europe that aims at providing a supportive and motivational framework to guide schools, headmasters and teachers from across the continent in their entrepreneurial learning initiatives.

Now more than ever, we wanted to celebrate our JA schools and their teachers for their tremendous work and efforts championing entrepreneurship education within their school communities during the last months. Held digitally for the first time, we invited winning school teachers from 25 European countries to attend an animated festivity.

At ManpowerGroup and JA Europe, we believe it is never too early to set the stage for a lifetime of achievement, fueled by learnability and skills development. As tomorrow’s leaders are today’s students, teachers play a crucial role in building a strong basis towards youth’s future, as well as society’s. The new digital reality brings together a skill revolution which we all should adapt to, and so help our younger talents to be prepared for and guide them how to continuously nurture their employability. In the webinar, ManpowerGroup provided an inspiring session about two of the most relevant Future of Work’s skills - Learnability and Digital Leadership, therefore offering work readiness to young students and teachers attending. We are supporting making the shift from teacher as an expert to facilitator who boots the passion for continuous learning that will enable students to develop skills they might need at present and in the future.

The event was split in two sections: an inspirational plenary including a key note speech from Italian teacher Carlo Mazzone, top 10 Global Teacher Prize Award 2020, and a panel debate, followed by a hands-on interactive workshop, looking at international teacher cooperation during the pandemic and exploring best practices for schools to foster partnerships with businesses.

The TES Awards are part of the European Vocational Skills Week, an annual event when local, regional and national organisations showcase the very best of vocational education and training (VET). The Awards for VET Excellence 2020 enable organisations and schools to share their passion and commitment to VET.

The JA Europe TES Awards category encourages vocational and academic schools to put more emphasis on teaching entrepreneurial skills as a way to better prepare young people for the jobs of tomorrow. This year, two JA schools - the Higher College for Engineering Wolfsberg from Austria and the Lycée Technique Agricole Ettelbruck from Luxembourg competed under this category. On 13 November, the EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit announced the Austrian school to be the winner of the award.

The Entrepreneurial School Awards 2020

1. AUSTRIA – Higher College for Engineering Wolfsberg
2. AUSTRIA – Bundeshandelsakademie/ Bundeshandelsschule Oberwart
3. BELGIUM – Middenschool Brugge Centrum
4. BULGARIA – St. Paisii Hilendarski High School
5. BULGARIA – Nevrokop Vocational High School “Dimitar Talev”
6. CYPRUS – Latsia Lyceum
7. CZECHIA – Vocational High School and College of Handicrafting and Art
8. ESTONIA – Värska Gümnaasium
9. ESTONIA - Viljandi Kutseõppekeskus (Viljandi Vocational Training Centre)
10. FINLAND – Kyrkslätts Gymnasium
11. FINLAND – Riveria, North Karelia Municipal Education and Training Consortium
12. GEORGIA – Tbilisi N175 Public School
13. GERMANY – Staatliche Gemeinschaftsschule “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe”
14. GREECE – Avgoulea Linardatou Private School
15. GREECE – Single Special Vocational High School – Lyceum of Pyrgos
16. ITALY – I.T.T Ettore Majorana
17. LATVIA – Valmiera Vocational Training Centre
18. LATVIA – Ventspils Secondary School No. 2
19. LITHUANIA – Kovo 11 – osios Gymnasium
20. LITHUANIA – Kaunas Technical Vocational Training Centre
21. LUXEMBOURG – Ecole de Commerce et de Gestion
22. LUXEMBOURG – Lycée Technique Agricole Ettelbruck (LTA)
23. NORTH MACEDONIA – Vocational School Vlado Tasevski
24. MOLDOVA – Public Institution Centre of Excellemce in Economy and Finance/ PU CEEF
25. NORWAY – Hersleb Upper Secondary School
26. PORTUGAL – Agrpamento de Escolas de Alvade – Escola Padre António Vieira
27. PORTUGAL – Escola Profissional Magestil
28. ROMANIA – Colegiul “Mihai Viteazul “Bumbești-Jiu
29. ROMANIA – Colegiul Economic Nicolae Titulescu Baia Mare
30. RUSSIA – Plavskaya Secondary School #2
31. SLOVAKIA - Evanjelické Gymnázium Tisovec
32. SLOVAKIA - Súkromná stredná odborná škola
33. SPAIN – Col.legi Montserrat
34. SPAIN – IES Las Musas
35. SWITZERLAND – Kanti Baden
36. SWITZERLAND – EMS Schiers
37. TURKEY - Ataşehir Anabilim Science High School
38. TURKEY - Haci Sani Konukoglu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School
39. UNITED KINGDOM – St. Patrick’s College Dungannon

About JA Europe

JA Europe is the largest non-profit in Europe dedicated to preparing young people for employment and entrepreneurship. JA Europe is a member of JA Worldwide, which for 100 years has delivered hands on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy. JA creates pathways for employability, job creation and financial success.

Last school year, the JA network in Europe reached more than 4 million young people across 40 countries with the support of 140,000 business volunteers and 130,000 teachers/educators. 

About the European Vocational Skills Week

The European Vocational Skills Week is an annual event when local, regional or national organisations showcase the very best of vocational education and training (VET). VET is a path to a more fulfilling personal and professional life. European Vocational Skills Week is a platform to make VET’s potential more widely known, and an opportunity to exchange information and good practice across Europe and beyond.

The fifth edition of the Week is a 100% online event organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union. A series of partner activities will take place digitally across the EU. This year’s theme is VET for Green and Digital Transitions, in line with the Commission priorities of a “European Green Deal” and a “Europe fit for the digital age”.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the global leader in innovative Talent Solutions, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing and managing the talent that supports them to grow sustainably . We develop innovative solutions for 400,000 organizations every year, while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for three millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower, Experis and Talent Solutions – create substantially more value for candidates and clients across 80 countries and territories and has done so for over 70 years. In 2019, ManpowerGroup was named one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies for the seventeenth year and one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the tenth year, confirming our position as the most trusted brand in the industry. See how ManpowerGroup is powering the future of work: www.manpowergroup.com