ABSTRACT
BERNAL, EDWIN P.., “IINOVATIVE EBTREPRENUERSHIP EDUCATION MODEL” (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Aquinas University of Legazpi City, March 2002)

This study formulated an innovative entrepreneurship education model for the business schools in the Higher Education Institution (HEIs) in the Bicol Region. This study addressed this concern by providing answers to the following problems:
1. What is the profile of the respondents Bicolanao entrepreneurs in terms of number of years in business, age, gender, civil status, educational attainment, sources of business education, type of business ownership and industry, entrepreneurship traits and their level of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills?
2. What the gaps in entrepreneurial competencies needs of the Bicolano entrepreneurs are as perceived by the entrepreneurs themselves, the business faculty, and the officers of both government agencies and private companies?
3. What are the gaps in entrepreneurial competencies that should be addressed by the business schools?
4. What are the priority industries and products that must be given focus in entrepreneurship education and the possible collaborative work focus in entrepreneurship education and the possible collaborative work in the area of entrepreneurship education that the business schools, government and the private business sectors must collaborative for purposes of developing promoting and creating variable small and medium enterprises (SMEs)?
5. What innovative entrepreneurship education model should be formulated to address the identified gaps in entrepreneurial competency needs of the Bicolano entrepreneurship?

This study is a descriptive research. The primary data were gathered from the Bicolano entrepreneurs, the business faculty and the officers in both the government agencies and private companies in the Bicol region. The data were processes with the use of Excel Microsoft Software and then analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The research reveals that of the 40 Bicolano entrepreneur-respondents, 35% have been in business for less than five years and another 35% for five to nine years. Sixty eight percent are between 31 to 50 years old. The female dominated the males by 16%. In terms of civil status, 92% are married.

The study indicates 72.5 % of the entrepreneurs are college graduates. Thirty eight percent of those with college degrees concentrated in Business management; 35%, Accountancy; 10% marketing. As to non-formal sources of business education , the entrepreneurs acknowledged that they either attended business seminars and workshops, or have had exposure/involvement in family business, prior work experience, early training in a craft or trade, put up their business due to personal interest/hobby, and accidental discovery/change happening.

As to type of ownership, 88% are sole proprietors and 12 % are into partnership. As to industry type, 63% are engaged in handicrafts, 23% in wholesale/retail and 15% in manufacturing.
The study reveals that the Bicolano entrepreneurs have a good or average level of entrepreneurial competencies. The respondents recommended that this level of entrepreneurship should be raised to a higher level considering that gaps in competencies exist.

There were identified Bicol industries and products that need to be given priority attention in SME development. These are food production and processing, high value handicrafts, IT related products and services, wearable, light metal industry, food terminal and services.

The possible areas of collaboration among the business schools, the government agencies and the private business sectors, for purposes of SME promotion, creation and development are on-the-job-training, industry-based instruction with the use of some case studies on local companies jointly prepared by the academe and the local business persons, industry-academe dialogue on enterprise development and promotion, and business solutions, such as business software.

The study concluded that (1) the college coerces obtained by the Bicolano entrepreneurship were not adequate to fully develop the required entrepreneurial competencies; (2) the honing of entrepreneurial competencies among the entrepreneurship students requires that it be industry-based which includes learning by doing and direct contact with the industry and its players; (3) an apparent gap exist in the entrepreneurial competencies of the present-day entrepreneurs and those of the prospective entrenuers which requires an improvement in the formulation and in the implementation of entrepreneurship curriculum; (4) the course in entrepreneurship must be given a slant towards prioritized Bicol products and industries so that their development and promotion would bring about better chances of competing in the market, whether locally and internationally; and (50 there is an expressed necessity for the academe to collaborate with other institution, both government and private , for purposes of complementation and supplementation in the achievement of goals and objectives relative to creation, development and promotion of SMEs in the Bicol Region.

On the basis of the research findings and conclusions, it is recommended that (1) an innovative curriculum on entrepreneurship be formulated to address the need for shaping the entrepreneurial competencies of the 21st century Bicolano entrepreneurs; (2) the schools offering business program should design and implement a competency training program aimed at addressing the competency needs of the present-day entrepreneurs; (3) the Ateneo de Naga University, as Center of Development for Business and management Education (CODBME) initiate an orientation on these findings among the business schools in Bicol Region and consequently, and in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education ( CHED( Region V, spearhead the conduct of workshops for formulating a Bicol-wide standard curriculum for entrepreneurship; (4) a forum with government agencies and the private sector should be initiated by the academe ,acting either individually or collectively, for purposes of letting them understand the need for elevating the quality of entrepreneurship[ education in the region through , among the development ,creating and promotion of SMEs.