SCHOOL them in business!

That's a major Government recommendation which has been welcomed by local business leaders.

Bolton and Bury Chamber has praised the Government-commissioned review into education and business, claiming that experience of business at an early age was vital to the creation of an enterprise economy.

The review, Enterprise and the Economy in Education, comes after the Government's recent Green Paper on 14-19 year-olds which seeks to place a greater emphasis on vocational learning.

One recommendation is that every pupil spends five days gaining experience of enterprise and the chance to set up and run their own mini-company.

The Chamber specifically welcomed the need for a national strategy to ensure that all students across Britain gained some hands-on knowledge of business.

Andrew Ratcliff, chief executive of Bolton and Bury Chamber, said: "Through our Education Business Partnership, local young people already have a headstart in learning about business and we are delighted that the Government is catching up with local thinking to develop a national strategy.

"This will ensure that young people across the country now have an equal opportunity to sample the world of work and business."

He added: "Our Education Business Partnership will be launching the pioneering Adopt a School initiative, where 12 schools throughout Bolton and Bury will work in partnership with local businesses."

The main recommendations in the review include:

A £56 million contribution from Government and £30 million contribution from business, with Government piloting a range of different approaches.

Special emphasis should be given to young people in economically deprived areas where existing links with business may be less well developed.

New teaching materials should be developed for enterprise learning and personal finance education.

Government provide £2 million to improve the scale and quality of business engagement, particularly amongst small and medium sized companies.

Ofsted include an additional question in the next revision of the inspection framework: how well does the school prepare young people for employability and work (including their enterprise capability).

Mr Ratcliff continued: "Our Education Business Partnership is uniquely placed to act as a business broker, part of the recommendation for a 'business associate' scheme to recruit and train teams of local business people who will commit to partner schools over minimum time period.

"As a strategic partner in Enterprise Insight, the national campaign for a more enterprising UK, the Chamber will seize opportunities to work with educators and delivery partners to help increase the number of young people undergoing enterprising learning activities as part of their education."