Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of entrepreneurship courses offered in
education schools. It provides recommendations for how to address the existing challenges
by developing entrepreneurship initiatives in education schools.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey was circulated to the management of all education
schools in Tanzania, respective entrepreneurship educators and graduates from these schools. Random
sampling was used to select teachers who had graduated from education schools.
Findings – The findings show that all education schools have an entrepreneurship module in the
development studies course, which is mandatory for all students in first year. From 2008 to
date, six education schools (31.6 per cent) have introduced stand-alone courses at undergraduate level
reflecting entrepreneurship in their title and 68.4 per cent are planning to introduce entrepreneurship
courses both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Although entrepreneurship educators
demonstrate subject specialty, they use traditional teaching and assessment techniques. The lack of
books on entrepreneurship and the large number of students were cited as the main challenges
affecting their role as subject facilitators.
Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to education schools in higher
education institutions. Similar studies in non-business disciplines need to be conducted to establish
how entrepreneurship is developed among graduates of higher education institutions.
Practical implications – The study recommends that the management of all education schools
should be made aware of the need to provide courses in entrepreneurship, to integrate experiential
learning and innovative techniques in the teaching and assessment processes and to involve students
in extra-curriculum activities.
Originality/value – This is the first study to be conducted in Tanzanian higher education institutions
that focuses on the teaching of entrepreneurship to education school students.