THE Junior Entrepreneur Programme, founded by  Kerry businessman Jerry Kennelly, has made its first foray into China and two Kerry men are spearheading its expansion.

A new pilot programme was launched in the city of Xiamen in Fujian province earlier this year, and the first 85 JEP entrepreneurs have created their businesses.

It all started when Paul McCarthy, a teacher at Xiamen International School, began searching for an entrepreneurship and life skills development programme for his students last Autumn.

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Paul has been teaching in international schools in different cities in China since 2015. He currently teaches Middle School (ages 11 – 15) at Xiamen International School. Xiamen is located on the South East coast of China. It is home to the first free trade zone established in China.

Paul had run the Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP) at home in Kerry and felt something similar would be ideal for his class. “I was a primary principal in Lauragh, a small, rural 2-teacher school in South Kerry, from 2011 – 2015 and took part in JEP before I moved to China. The children greatly enjoyed it and learned a huge amount.”

“I felt that this type of programme, with a focus on collaboration and life skills, would fit very well with the ethos of Xiamen International  School. A high percentage of parents are business people, and I was confident they would appreciate the introduction of entrepreneurship skills at an early age.”

To his surprise, he could not find a programme comparable to JEP. “From my experience in an American International School, a British International School, and now an independent International Baccalaureate School, I haven’t encountered anything similar to JEP in the international community. Various countries have different initiatives but none of them bring together all of the elements in such a neat way.”

Paul contacted the Junior Entrepreneur Programme office to ask if they would consider allowing him to participate, and before long he and his class were up and running.

The pilot was a great success and culminated with one of Paul’s students winning the JEP Bright Spark Award.

Chen Jia (Jana) won the award for her idea, the PLA converter, which could convert used plastic into 3D printing material. The Bright Spark is the only award presented to an individual student.

Jana is looking forward to her trophy presentation when the school re-opens in mid-August. “I learned many lessons from this experience”, she said.  “The main thing is that things don’t always go as planned, and that’s okay. The sense of success came from a place other than making money. It came from the pride of being able to organise everything.”

Paul is not the only Kerry native working at the school. Tom Cooper, from Ballymacelligott, was the Primary Years Programme Coordinator at Xiamen IB School this year, and responsible for leading the implementation of the primary years curriculum.

Tom, his wife Fang, and their two children, Maureen and Danny, regularly visit Kerry. Maureen was a member of the class that completed JEP in Xiamen this year.

Another Irish staff member, James Gleeson from Midleton, Co. Cork, the IT and Communications Coordinator, has been based at XIS for five years and was heavily involved in the delivery of JEP.

According to Paul, there is a significant Irish community teaching in various institutions in China. ”The Irish education system holds up very well to international comparison. Irish teachers have an excellent reputation in China and around the world and are in high demand,” he added.

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