AZORES | More than ten young inmates join Entrepreneurial Academy – Turn on Your Potential

The pilot project for the “Entrepreneurial Academy – Turn on Your Potential,” an initiative of the Regional Government in partnership with the Directorate-General of Reintegration and Prison Services, kicked off this Monday at the Ponta Delgada Correctional Facility on the island of São Miguel.

Throughout 10 sessions, more than ten inmates aged up to 35 will take part in this programme to promote entrepreneurial and social skills, with a view to closer contact with the concepts and practices associated with entrepreneurship, such as behaviour and attitudes, innovation, management or communication, for example.

The goal is to provide young inmates with the skills to build new life paths and reintegrate them into society and the labour market after serving their sentence and subsequent release.

The “Entrepreneurial Academy – Turn on your Potential” runs through different stages, including the “Entrepreneur for a Day” activity, which will provide young people with real-life experience of setting up a micro-business, and the “Meeting with Entrepreneurs,” where participants can meet and interact with the people behind inspiring stories of challenge, learning and success.

The programme culminates in the “Entrepreneurial Fair,” where the young inmates will have the opportunity to present and defend their entrepreneurial projects to the community.

The implementation of the pilot project for the “Entrepreneurial Academy – Turn on your Potential” at the Ponta Delgada Correctional Facility stems from a protocol signed last January by the Regional Secretary for Youth, Vocational Training and Employment, Maria João Carreiro, and the Director-General of Reintegration and Prison Services, Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves.

The Entrepreneurial Academy is implemented by the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Vocational Training and Employment, through the Regional Directorate for Youth.

In addition to the “Turn on your potential” programme, which is aimed at the young inmate population in the Azores, the project also includes the “School of Leaders,” which covers all levels of education, including university and vocational education, as well as private social solidarity institutions.

GRA/RÁDIOILHÉU