new business module

INTRODUCTION 7
By setting a benchmark, the business plan will help the beneficiaries
to implement their business ideas and ICRC staff to
select appropriate beneficiaries and monitor achievement of
their objectives.
The course material is not to be delivered in a classical teaching
style, where a trainer explains concepts and tools and the participants
take notes and go home and try to apply what was
taught. The course should not be “read” to the participants. It
should be adapted to their educational level and context. Trainers
should use simple language and a participative style to
deliver the material. They should play the role of facilitators.
The participants will learn concepts and tools through discussion,
exercises and activities. They should be motivated to
bring in their own experience and discuss practical local examples.
The purpose of applying an interactive training style is to
adapt the course and its material to the participants’ needs
and immediate environment, to demystify the business world
by making the participants realize that they are able to understand
and interact with it, and to enhance comprehension and
recall of the material acquired during the course.
The course calls for basic literacy and numeracy skills. 1 Course
participants are asked to read simple texts and perform basic
mathematical operations. Illiterate beneficiaries might be able
to follow the course with the help of other participants, family
members or friends with basic literacy and numeracy skills;
however, they do need basic numeracy skills.
The script should be seen as a general frame for a business
skills training course – a model. Delegates and field officers
should adapt it to the local context. All examples can be
altered and replaced. At the very least, the currency and names
should be adapted to the context. Ideally, the case studies and
examples should be replaced by local versions. The projects of
former MEI beneficiaries are a good source of inspiration.
1 Completely illiterate and innumerate people need special training courses, which
are too time-intensive to fit into a typical MEI programme. See, for example, FAO
(1993a, 1993b, 1994a).