A CAPE Town entrepreneur has called on the national Department of Education to include entrepreneurship in the school curriculum to instil a culture of entrepreneurship in pupils.

Palesa Moeketsi, owner of Chesa Communication in Cape Town, was speaking at an entrepreneurs breakfast in Khayelitsha, also in Cape Town, yesterday.

The event, attended by about 80 women entrepreneurs, was organised and hosted by Cape Town Activa, a City of Cape Town initiative with the aim of inspiring, supporting and developing entrepreneurship in the Mother City.

It also formed part of Women's Month celebrations.

Successful businesswomen shared information and their experiences with new entrepreneurs.

Speaking to Sowetan yesterday, Moeketsi said pupils needed to be encouraged to become entrepreneurs at a very young age.

"The national department of education should include entrepreneurship in the school curriculum."

Young people in China, who are between 18 and 24 years old, are running successfully businesses.

This means that they were encouraged to opt for entrepreneurship while they were very young," she added.

Moeketsi, who is passionate about communications and radio, started her company in October 2008 and specialises in basic radio productions and programming.

Before to the formation of the business she completed a six-month entrepreneurship course at the Raymond Ackerman Academy also in Cape Town.

"The business and I benefited from the course because it (business) has been growing."

She said while some women had started their own businesses, many of them were battling to get finance or resources.

Mayoral committee member for economic development Belinda Walker said many businesswomen did not get support from their husbands or boyfriends and the problem had a negative impact on their businesses.