Tag: <span>Entrepreneurship</span>

25 Feb

Catch ‘Em Young: Should Entrepreneurship Be Taught in Schools?
Posted in Education by anshbookstore on February 25, 2023 @ 6:42 am

Just a few days ago I was reading a column by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas Friedman in which he stresses upon the need to get millions of American kids, not just the bright ones, excited about innovation and entrepreneurship again. This in order to prepare a million new businesses that won’t simply give brief roadway occupations, but steady jobs that keep America on the cutting edge. To accomplish that, Friedman further made a suggestion – ensure every American kid knows about National Lab Day, get the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship to every middle and high school teacher and bring every classroom to view the documentary movie “Ten9Eight”.

Though a little dated (first published in NY Times in 2010), it found resonance (most parts of it) with me especially in these times of the much talked about demographic dividend, creating more jobs and the craze for startups in India. Friedman clearly was alluding to getting younger people in school, into the fold of entrepreneurship and being “innovation ready” – meaning that along with their mortarboards, they receive the critical-thinking, co-creation and multi-tasking abilities and collaboration skills that will help them invent their own careers and in turn create more jobs.

Friedman’s viewpoint provides cues to deal with India’s current manpower story. By 2020, about 60% of India’s population of 1.3 bn will be in the working age group of 15-59 years. It is estimated that by 2025, India will have 25% of the world’s total workforce.

India it seems, can also do well to engage with teaching entrepreneurship in schools, in order to build bridges between the young minds of today and job seekers of tomorrow. Various surveys have highlighted the need of teaching entrepreneurship from school level in order to create a competitive workforce which is beyond grades.

Experts argue that unless we introduce entrepreneurship as a school subject – like math, science history or geography – most young minds would remain unmindful of an undeniable fact for long, that jobs are best created, not consumed. According to Steve Mariotti, if entrepreneurship education can create jobs, encourage students to stay in school, and provide economic rescue for people in low-income communities, why aren’t we teaching it in every school.

Many are of the perspective that entrepreneurship learning- how to identify opportunities, how to work around issues, how to encourage innovation, how to overcome barriers, how to form winning teams, how to place risk in context, how to balance a mix of innovation and tradition, how to develop social, emotional and vocational skills- is best taught in the formative years of education. Some of the leading experts are also of the view that teaching entrepreneurship from a school level can be the long haul blue print for the most ambitious Make in India campaign.

Meanwhile, the government too has been quick to realize that entrepreneurship is one of the answers to sustained economic growth and job creation.. Efforts are being made to introduce entrepreneurship at the high school level, by offering it as an optional vocational subject in classes XI and XII by the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE). Some schools in India have already taken the step forward in integrating entrepreneurial and life skills development into formal school curriculum at the elementary level.

However, the path to taking entrepreneurship to schools is paved with unique challenges. Given the barriers of the Indian education system it is important to address concerns like curriculum design, trained teachers, should it be optional or mandatory, should it be in-house or outsourced among others.

Whether entrepreneurship should be taught in schools may remain a moot point for a while but unless we develop a comprehensive ecosystem and an entrepreneurial mindset starting from school all the way up to the industry, we may remain a country of job seekers. Watching “Ten9Eight” meanwhile may not be a bad idea after all.



Source by Atul Raja

24 Dec

After Decades of Conditioning, India Is Re-Aligning Itself With the Culture of Entrepreneurship
Posted in Education by anshbookstore on December 24, 2022 @ 6:09 am

Globally, entrepreneurship has become a key engine for employment generation. As policy makers grapple with economic uncertainty and cultural changes, large corporations that traditionally created jobs are biting the dust. From 2003 to 2013, 712 corporations disappeared from the Fortune 1000. One can safely extrapolate that very few Fortune 1000 companies will be around in another 30 to 40 years. However a new breed of risk-takers and innovators in the form of entrepreneurs are beginning to line up on the horizon of business world. According to a report by the Kauffman Foundation, industrial era companies in the US dismissed more jobs than they created in contrast to high-growth startups that created the maximum number of new jobs between 2000 and 2010. Facebook has been credited with having created 4.5 million new jobs, directly and indirectly. This global trend makes a strong case for supporting Indian start-ups and entrepreneurs as a means to create future employment.

However, it is even more important to create a support system that ensures the survival of the start-ups beyond the first five years. In other words, once invested in a start-up, return on investment (ROI) can be assured only when the investment finds further sustenance. This is critical as 70 to 95 percent of start-ups fail or exit, resulting in disproportionately high job destruction. Studies have shown that 47 percent of the jobs created by start-ups are eliminated by exits in the first five years. It is the surviving 53 percent of businesses that witness rapid growth and bring about broad-based job creation.

This means that government policy must be attuned to the practical needs, while addressing the pain areas, of Indian entrepreneurs. The policy must address: funding to be more easily available to entrepreneurs; creating a large pool of experienced mentors and advisers who provide inputs around manpower and resource management, legal and marketing, partnerships and technology; and providing mechanisms to improve access to local and global markets.

It is evident that supporting entrepreneurship is a medium to long-term approach. The question that needs an answer is: what type of entrepreneurship should be prioritized for support so that success and subsequent job creation is assured? Today’s marketplace has become hyper competitive. Just take a look around. There are more choices available to consumers and enterprise buyers than ever before. There are new business models that don’t require buyers to own products or commit up front to long-term subscription of services. Delivery systems have changed, allowing businesses to reach customers in remote locations and new markets, bringing down geographical and political barriers. Entrepreneurs are innovating to give birth to entirely new asset-light business like Uber, Ola, Airbnb, Oyo Rooms, Zomato, Foodpanda, PayPal and Paytm. These businesses are re-shaping entire industries, forcing traditional players to re-think their strategies.

Igniting the spirit of entrepreneurship and sustaining it is also a long-term undertaking. Not everyone is blessed with the DNA of entrepreneurship. A culture of free enterprise needs to be nurtured. Today, one of the nations to have taken positive steps towards creating such a culture is the US where 1,600 colleges offer over 2,200 courses that ‘skill’ students in entrepreneurship. These courses build knowledge through academic studies, practical industry experience via apprenticeship programs, entrepreneurship clubs, boot camps and access to investor networks and support systems. Education, without doubt, is a way to ensure higher success rates for entrepreneurs. In India, we need to create cost-effective and scalable education models that help reach students using video and mobile technology on MOOC platforms that transform teaching into learning, thereby eliminating the need for massive armies of instructors and trainers.

Lastly, a substantial demographic in the form of Indian women remains untapped. Of the total number of entrepreneurs in the country, only 10 percent are women. However, even within these small numbers, women entrepreneurs from India-Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Sulajja Motwani and Ekta Kapoor to name a few-have been in the limelight. Significantly, a Dow Jones study has confirmed that start-ups with female executives have a higher chance of success. What they need to succeed is education, vocational training, access to funding and interaction with entrepreneurs and buyers across the world. According to The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), annual growth of the Indian economy could improve 2.4% if the country implements pro-gender policies.

Historically, Indian society and the education system have focused on creating doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. These professionals are a necessity. But after decades of conditioning, the nation is re-aligning itself with the culture of entrepreneurship. We are at the cusp of entrepreneurial success. This opportunity must not be lost for the lack of policy and world-class support systems



Source by Atul Raja