AUCA’s Enactus team opens TiFE 2016, Connecting Experts in Entrepreneurship to Schoolchildren with Big Ideas

October 18, 2016

On October 2, 2016, AUCA’s Enactus team held the opening ceremony for Teenagers in Free Enterprise (TiFE) 2016, a project promoting entrepreneurial development among schoolchildren.

The Enactus team has been operating TIFE for more than 10 years. TIFE focuses mostly on contributing to the development of teenagers. The number of school students willing to take part in the project increases every year. TIFE 2016 hosted 15 teams for a grand total of 250 schoolchildren from Bishkek—setting a new record in the number of participants.

TiFE’s goal is to teach schoolchildren about entrepreneurship. In the next six months, schoolchildren will be attending trainings from outstanding businessmen and specialists from the Kyrgyz Republic. Moreover, working on a team, the participants will gain invaluable experience.

Since 2014, the most important criterion of TiFE is the profit of a given project implemented by schoolchildren. TiFE lasts 3-6 months and, at the end of the project, participants have to have their projects and results, i.e. revenue and income. According to the organizing team, 2015 showed that opening a small business in such a small time period is quite possible. According to TiFE 2015, over 10 teams opened their own business and managed to turn a reasonable profit. Apart from their financial results, judges will evaluate the quality of each group’s business model and presentation. The winning team is awarded a scholarship to AUCA. Second and third-place winners are awarded money and gifts from sponsors.

During the opening of TiFE 2016, The AUCA Enactus team introduced the schoolchildren to the speakers and outlined the criteria of the project. Gulbarchyn Suyunova, the President of Enactus Kyrgyzstan; Arslanbek Kenenbaev, the President of the BNC FINANCE investment company; Daniyar Emilov, the founder of “Enterpreneur” courses; and Anatoliy Fedorenko, an alumnus and academic adviser of the AUCA Enactus team all talked about the opportunities schoolchildren have through TiFE. They each imbued their speeches with motivation and inspiration for the students. At the opening ceremony each school team also gave a presentation on, followed by a business game, invented by Anatoliy Fedorenko.

“TiFE 2016 promises to be interesting and eventful. This year, participants from Kazakhstan are taking part in TiFE, so schoolchildren from Bishkek will be facing much stiffer competition. We try to improve the project each year, so this year we are trying to raise it to the highest level,” shared Aliya Ismailova, a sophomore in Business Administration and a coordinator of TiFE 2016.

*Enactus is the world’s largest non-commercial organization uniting young leaders, outstanding businessmen, and active teachers. The name is an abbreviation of three words: Entrepreneurial, Action, Us—that is, the ability to see opportunities, wish for action, and unite people with a common goal. At the moment, Enactus involves 36 countries, 1,700 universities, and 66,500 students. The Enactus organization (previously known as SIFE) has operated in the Kyrgyz Republic since 1995. Working on their own projects, students learn about the economic situations in the city and the regions, suggest and carry out business ideas directed towards improving of the quality and level of life, and learn to apply leadership and team-based skills.

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